Local journalist programme is live:

Join CTA — signed-in members see "Do you want to be a local journalist?" on /news; they enter the city/area they'll cover and they're in (free, no application). Stars ⭐ Contributor (1 approved story) → ⭐⭐ Reporter (5) → ⭐⭐⭐ Senior reporter (15) → ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Editor's circle (40). The badge shows next to their photo on every news card and on their public profile. Rewards — +10 per approved story, +5 when a story hits 5 net upvotes, +25 for an ⭐ Important pick by you, +50 for each new star level; points redeem for featured listings, banner slots or Pro. Leaderboard — top contributors with their beat, on /journalists and a top-5 on /news. Rules + disclaimer — genuine, verifiable, original, sourced, no disguised ads or hate speech, shown on the submit form and the programme page, plus a notice on /news that Godesi doesn't verify every claim and the team may edit, unpublish or delete any story and revoke journalist status. Everything still goes through your approval queue at /admin/content, so nothing publishes without admin or a moderator with News rights.