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Students working for “The Post” received a grant for next school year from the  to expand coverage outside of the ���ϳԹ� Athens Campus into surrounding communities throughout southeast Ohio. Abigail Waechter, a senior majoring in strategic communication and the incoming business strategy director for “The Post” submitted the winning application. Her motivation to enter, as well as the focus of her proposal, closely aligned with the editor-in-chief’s vision to expand coverage beyond the campus and city limits.

“This grant allows us to go beyond that original vision. It gives us resources to expand our coverage into Appalachian communities, bringing essential journalism to places that need it most. This expansion isn’t just about geography, it’s about impact. We’re setting a new goal: to create journalism that reaches beyond our campus borders and serves the wider southeastern Ohio region with the same care, curiosity, and commitment we bring to our campus reporting,” said Waechter, who is from Mason, Ohio. “As a strategic communication major, I’ve realized that my future likely isn’t in traditional news journalism, but in roles like my current position as director of business strategy. As cliche as it might sound, to me, this grant feels like a testament to what ‘The Post’ can achieve with a dedicated executive focused on business growth and innovation, and I’m honored to be the first person to hold this role.”

“One of my central editorial goals as editor-in-chief is expanding our coverage outside of campus and uptown Athens. I am so excited to have more resources to do just that, as well as a whole network of journalism professionals to turn to with questions and concerns. Receiving this grant is not only a huge step toward meeting my goal for ‘The Post,’ but it is also a huge step forward for student journalists on ���ϳԹ�'s campus,” said Editor-In-Chief Jackson McCoy, a junior from Plain City, Ohio. “This grant validates the work we do at ‘The Post.’ Getting selected to be a part of the Solutions Journalism Network's Student Media Challenge was a rigorous process, and the network puts a lot of trust in the publications chosen to participate. The grant represents the pride I feel as a student journalist in our work and the difference it makes. The money from the grant will fund several new initiatives allowing young media professionals to experiment with different types of coverage on meaningful issues outside of the Athens bubble.”

The Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) is a global organization dedicated to promoting solutions journalism, a type of journalism that focuses on rigorous and compelling reporting about how people are trying to solve problems. SJN aims to advance solutions journalism to strengthen communities, advance equity, build trust, and engage citizens.

“This will bring $7,500 to ‘The Post’ to expand the coverage into the small communities throughout the county and beyond our borders,” said Director of Student Media Andrea Lewis. “I’m very proud of the students and the partnerships that have been fostered this year, as well as the growth potential for next year.”

Student reporters at “The Post” will use the funding to examine the impact of opioids on individuals throughout the region. They will explore the mental health effects on those directly affected by addiction and those connected to the crisis, while also analyzing the broader context, such as why certain areas in Ohio are targeted by drug trafficking organizations. The project aims to produce and publish one long-form solutions journalism story per month, each spotlighting a credible and evidence-based response to a pressing local or regional issue. The stories will be featured in both the online and print editions, with the goal of engaging local readers while also making the stories accessible and relevant to wider communities through syndication and digital outreach. “The Post” has developed partnerships with local convenience stores and gas stations around the region where community members can pick up a copy of the free print newspaper.

“This project is urgent due to recent legislation changes surrounding Narcan access, which directly impact communities disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis. Additionally, these areas often face chronic underfunding and lack essential health and media resources,” said Lewis. “Our community exists in a news desert, where limited internet access makes it difficult for residents to stay informed through traditional digital means. By producing accessible, solutions-oriented coverage and distributing the free newspaper across print, in-person, and low-bandwidth channels, we aim to bridge this information gap and ensure that life-saving information reaches those who need it most.”

Each monthly story will focus on a different issue area, such as public health, education, climate adaptation, or criminal justice reform, framed through the lens of the response to a specific challenge. “The Post” will go beyond simply identifying what’s broken and will examine who is working to fix it and how.

“While the focus of the reporting will be on solutions journalism around the opioid epidemic, student reporters will also be covering all types of stories in those communities as well,” said Lewis. “The grant gives us the opportunity to be in those communities doing opioid solutions reporting but also writing other feature stories about what is going on that is important to community members in those towns and cities.”

The expansion of coverage also provides student reporters for “The Post” with more hands-on, professional experience covering the kinds of stories they will be reporting on in their first jobs out of college.

“The students will get to become focused on real events that impact more than their peers when covering off-campus events,” said Lewis. “It will prepare them for jumping into that internship or jumping into that first job. They will be covering stories that matter to people outside of their peers and professors.”

“The Post” has served as an editorially independent newsroom covering both campus and community since 1911.

 Today, it is home to more than 350 student journalists. The newsroom and its staff have earned numerous state and national honors, including multiple Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards, as well as recognition from the Ohio News Media Association and other collegiate journalism organizations. Alumni of "The Post" have gone on to work in leading newsrooms and media organizations around the world.