The University of Missouri School of Journalism has announced a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation to create a collaborative network of journalists dedicated to covering agriculture, water, and environmental issues in the Mississippi River Basin region.

The gift will create the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a network focused on increasing coverage of issues such as pollution, flooding, land use, and climate change. The network will be a signature program of the School of Journalism's emerging Center for Science Communication, and through a partnership with Report for America, will place ten journalists in newsrooms throughout the region to cover these issues. Journalists will receive training and mentorship from faculty and staff at the Missouri School of Journalism, along with experts from the Society of Environmental Journalists.

According to the university, the river basin area covers 40 percent of the continental United States, stretching from Montana to Pennsylvania and from Minnesota to Louisiana. More than 90 percent of the country's agricultural products exports are grown in the river basin. But as local newsrooms increasingly have limited budgets and reduced staffing, publications cannot always dedicate adequate resources cover agricultural issues.

"We believe that an informed public makes better choices for nature and communities, and objective, good journalism is key to that," said Moira McDonald, director of the Walton Family Foundation's Environment Program. "Roughly 70 percent of the world's freshwater is used in the production of food. Protecting water while growing enough food to feed a growing population is the way of the future, and to get there, we need quality reporters who provide transparency and accountability on these issues."