WUSF to Explore Personal Stories of Families on the Verge of Poverty

May 11, 2022 – Tampa

Thanks in part to national funding from the Report for America national service program, WUSF Public Media this summer is launching a new reporting focus that will explore the personal stories of families and individuals living on the verge of poverty in the Tampa Bay region. WUSF will hire the skilled multi-media journalist, Gabriella Paul to lead reporting in this new project.

Tens of thousands of people living in the region are in the category of working poor; people who have jobs but are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to survive in a region where a growth and a tourism-based economy has fewer paths into the middle class. While a recent study found 13 percent of Floridians live below the federal threshold for poverty, a full third of residents in the Tampa Bay region live in a vulnerable middle ground where they struggle to afford basic household necessities.

“WUSF wants people from across the region in all types of communities to share their stories,” said WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky. “These funds and Gabriella’s reporting will help illuminate the lives of people who are too often left on the margins.”

These stories may explore familiar themes – health, education, the environment and job security – but they can now be told from the perspective of people living these experiences, because many people may be unaware their neighbors and friends are living on the brink of poverty.

Paul comes to WUSF with substantial experience in journalism, most recently as a digital producer at WUFT News in Gainesville, and as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. She has previously served as an investigative reporter, web producer and capitol correspondent for WUFT and The Gainesville Sun. 

Urofsky said the station expects to distribute stories from this project across all its platforms, including radio, its website WUSF.org, online streaming, social media and podcasting.

As more newsrooms in the country are losing resources, Report for America is a national service program whose mission is to help put more reporters in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. The organization typically covers the cost of half a reporter’s salary, while the local newsroom supports the other half for a duration of one to two years.