Reporter II, Early Childhood Education (Temporary) Job at American Public Media

Your Role:

Learning starts long before kids step foot in a classroom, but not every California family has the same opportunities or support. Barriers to early education and child care have been persistent issues for parents - and childcare providers have been historically underpaid.

LAist is looking for a temporary reporter excited to connect educators and caregivers of children ages 0-5 in L.A. County with resources and people working to effect positive change in early childhood. We want to reveal what's working and what's not. You'll join a team of education reporters covering child development and learning from birth to higher education.

Scope

• Part of this reporter's mission will be to watchdog how well government agencies are serving people and to report on public and private efforts to improve quality and access to perinatal care, child care, and preschool and transitional kindergarten.
• We're looking for someone who brings strong journalism fundamentals, beat knowledge, curiosity, and an interest in early childhood. This reporter will report daily and enterprise stories, and will look for opportunities to engage with our audiences. Working in our cross-platform newsroom, they will report, write, and produce on-air reports, post online stories, and use social media and web tools to report and engage beat sources, listeners, and readers, while developing reporting projects. This reporter will work collaboratively across the newsroom and especially within the education team.
• A significant portion of the early childhood education reporter's job will include a consistent practice of engaged journalism, actively listening to our current and future audiences for story ideas, reporting leads, and incorporating community expertise. This reporter will work closely with our engagement team and be a partner to a community engagement producer focused on early childhood. The ideal candidate will have a passion for reporting that provides resources and helps parents navigate raising young people in Southern California.

This a seven-month temporary role with a projected start date of early December 2024 and a projected end date of early July 2025.
Location: Pasadena, CA (Hybrid)Expected Hourly Range: $37.26 - $44.71.The exact hourly rate is determined by experience and education related to the role, organizational compensation structure, and internal equity.Application Deadline: Friday, December 27, 2024

Your Responsibilities:

• Report and produce daily and breaking news stories and feature stories on deadline for radio, web, and social media
• Deliver stories with fully developed on-air style and originality in writing
• Develop deep expertise and source lists on the beat
• Every week, monitor local government agendas and attend meetings remotely and in person
• Regularly file public record requests
• Work with data to help find and develop stories
• Report complex stories quickly, producing at least two stories per week; bring complicated ideas to our readers and listeners with moderate direction from the editor. Each month at least five stories produced must be on beat.
• Contribute to a twice-monthly specialized newsletter as a writer or editor.
• Provide live newscast reports and talk shows and host 2-ways
• Participate in special projects including editorial projects and live events
• Propose ideas, and topics for on-air programs
• Operate production and studio equipment
• Use audience engagement as a reporting tool
• Other duties as assigned

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• 3 years or more professional journalism experience

Required Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated radio reporting, digital news, and production skills
• Proven ability to identify and originate stories, report accurately and quickly, and meet deadlines
• Ability to develop areas of expertise and establish beat priorities and goals
• Demonstrated capacity to use public documents, internet research, and other reporting methods to provide independent material to inform stories
• Strong writing, reporting, and interviewing skills
• Ability to provide live reports and two-ways
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively
• General and developing knowledge of beat
• Ability to tackle difficult projects
• Ability to work simultaneously on short- and long-term projects
• Ability to produce compelling storytelling with originality in writing
• Ability to develop stories with multiple interviews, scene changes, and strong knowledge of subject matter
• Become and remain a member in good standing of SAG-AFTRA by the thirtieth (30th) day of employment

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Experience covering local government
• Demonstrated track record of producing stories that originate from public records requests
• Demonstrated experience working with young children and their parents
• Fluency in Spanish (speaking, especially)

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

• Ability to travel when needed
• Must be able to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation
• Ability to manage some work outside of standard office hours as needed.
• Physical Demands:
  
  • Required to move about in an office environment and sit for extended periods
  • Required to move about in the community
  • Frequent use of hands for data entry/keystrokes and simple grasping
• Working Conditions:
  
  • Moderate noise level
  • Occasional exposure to prevalent weather conditions
  • May be eligible to work in a hybrid office/remote work arrangement

Southern California Public Radio (LAist 89.3/LAist.com/LAist Studios) is diverse in race, ethnicity, language, culture, social class, national origin, religious and political belief, age, ability, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation in addition to other markers protected by law.

At SCPR, we strive to create an inclusive environment where we all feel pride in who we are and what we do. We are encouraged to show up as we are - always embracing and recognizing that our diversity is what brings us together. Our fundamental commitment to diversity:

• Enriches SCPR and provides an atmosphere in which all human potential is valued
• Promotes learning through interactions among people of different backgrounds and many perspectives, and
• Enables the organization to prepare all employees to promote social responsibility, equity, freedom, and productive citizenship in a global society