Growing Community Media seeks a news reporter

Growing Community Media is looking for its next full-time reporter in Oak Park.

This is a premier beat for its flagship news site, Wednesday Journal.

We’re looking for a fearless journalist who aims to hold the powerful accountable, who loves local news and who can tease out the best story, whether it’s a brief, daily, investigation or feature. Original hard news and enterprise reporting are essential to the beat. The reporter must be audience-centric but comfortable working in print. We publish weekly in print but daily online. This is a high-energy beat.

We’re a newish nonprofit, which means the Oak Park reporter will be joining us at an exciting time when we are doing the heavy yet creative work of reimaging what community news is. If you’re looking to experiment, if you’re looking to publish news that authentically reflects the community, if you’re looking to grow in new roles we haven’t thought of yet, then this job is for you.

Qualifications:

A journalism degree or equivalent
1 to 3 years of reporting experience after college graduation
Ability to use software such as WordPress, Word, Google Docs and Dropbox
Strong writing samples

Responsibilities:

In no particular order, you will:

Cover night meetings as necessary
Develop strong sources with local roots
Report on standard municipal issues, including local politics, policy, contracts, business and economics
Publish daily online and for print
Shoot photos on occasion
Work closely with the EIC
Work closely with designers and digital managers, as needed

Key Considerations:

Strong writing skills and a command of grammar and AP style.
A self-starter who owns the beat yet works collaboratively with others locally to meet common goals.
A journalist committed to values of fairness, diversity, inclusion and professionalism.

Nice to have, but not deal breakers:

Experience with social media, including Instagram Stories, as a tool to build audience and as a source for beat development.
Experience with and interest in multimedia, including video and podcasting.

If you have skills or talents that don’t quite fit the above yet you feel like you can still perform the duties as described, please apply and make your case. We’d like to hear from you.

The salary range for this reporting post will be between $42,000 and $45,000.

This is a hybrid job. Reporters are expected to work in our newsroom as a base three days each week. We do not pay relocation fees.

To apply, send a resume, three writing samples and a cover letter explaining why you think you’re the best fit for the job and why community news interests you. Email them to erika@growingcommunitymedia.org by Nov. 15. We will take applications on a rolling basis until then, so apply sooner rather than later.

For further details click here.

Mariam Ahmed