NEW YORK (AP) — Dean Baquet, outgoing executive editor of The New York Times, will lead a fellowship program focusing on local investigative journalism projects at the Times.

Baquet and a group of veteran investigative editors will guide journalists producing the efforts, which The Times will let news organizations in the affected areas co-publish or broadcast at no cost, the newspaper said on Tuesday.

Details on how many journalism fellows will be part of the program have yet to be announced.

The Times said last week that Baquet will be stepping down in June as he has reached 65, the age at which the newspaper’s leadership tenure traditionally ends. He’ll be replaced by his top deputy, Joseph Kahn.

The fellowship will help fill a need at a time when local and state journalism is declining for economic reasons. A.G. Sulzberger, the Times’ chairman and publisher, called it a “national tragedy.”

“I care deeply about investigative reporting,” Baquet said. “And I fear a future where there’s less of it as more and more news organizations have to cut back. I would love to have the chance to help train a new generation of investigators.”

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