National Public Radio, in collaboration with 12 NPR member stations, has launched a dozen topic focused news sites today, debuting its Argo Network, an online journalism venture created to produce in-depth local coverage.

Topics that will be covered include global health, climate change, gentrification, public safety, education, politics, military, immigration and music. Each Argo station chose its topic based on what was most relevant to the local community.

"The ARGO project has launched a dozen independent, news sites of substance and immediacy, where people can deepen their understanding of the critical issues that affect both communities and the nation," said NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller.

"By networking the sites, each station gains national perspective, audience and the opportunity to learn from the experiences of the others."

The sites will be connected to each other through NPR’s API that allows the integration and sharing of content among the Argo stations and NPR. Content from the Argo sites will flow into the NPR.org API.

Each Argo site is anchored by a news blog that features multiple stories each day along with community features for audience engagement and curated content. The individual stations will decide how to integrate the Argo site with their station websites.

The Argo Network is funded by a $3 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.