Staff Writer, The Lab Report Dallas

Job Description

Details about The Lab Report

The Lab Report Dallas is a new publication that, rather than attempt to replace or augment the responsibilities of a daily newspaper, invests in insightful short- and long-form enterprise journalism that provides readers a deeper understanding of critical issues facing Dallas and other American cities.

The Lab Report began publishing a weekly email newsletter in July and our website will be live in the spring. We believe deeply in the power of local reporting. Since our launch, we have broken news, investigated whether Dallas County’s attempts to introduce alternatives to jail have worked, untangled complicated housing policies, and profiled neighborhoods rich with history that have sustained years of disinvestment.

Our publication shares a mission with its parent company, the Child Poverty Action Lab, to deliver insights through journalism and data that will help reduce childhood poverty and make Dallas a better place for everyone. Our beats include healthcare, public safety, housing, land use, transportation, and the environment, as well as other critical issues that affect how we all live. While The Lab Report Dallas benefits from the expertise and data capabilities of the subject matter experts working within CPAL, it will succeed by finding stories beyond the important work produced by our colleagues.

The newsroom remains editorially independent from the rest of the operation.

Why we need you:

We’re looking for an enterprising reporter who is as adept at breaking news as they are writing a deeply reported narrative. We’re looking for a journalist who is eager to produce work that helps our audience better understand the issues shaping how families in Dallas and other American cities live. This reporter should be passionate about becoming a go-to source for news stories that tunnel beyond the usual approach of explaining what happened today on their beat by providing insights about what a particular action means and who it will affect. While not necessarily a daily news reporter, this staffer is expected to consistently produce stories that reflect the mission and editorial strategy of The Lab Report Dallas.

It is critical that The Lab Report goes beyond news events to provide important context, produce compelling profiles of people our readers need to know, and center accountability in its work. The reporter should be able to build trusted sources within local government and with stakeholders and advocates who are at the tables where strategies around the topics we cover are debated. It’s also critical that this person create relationships with residents who are affected by the policies and initiatives that roll out of City Hall, the county government center, and other venues where important decisions are made.

Our reporters are expected to contribute to email newsletters, social media, podcasts, and other strategies to reach our readers beyond our website. The Lab Report Dallas is a new media outlet with broad ambitions; the right candidate for this position must possess an entrepreneurial approach that breaks through the status quo.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Compensation for this role starts at $80,000 but is open to negotiation based on the candidate’s experience and alignment to job requirements.

• CPAL offers a competitive benefits package, including health and dental benefits and a 401(k) matching program.

• CPAL observes 11 paid holidays and has a flexible vacation policy.

• CPAL has a flexible work environment that includes work-from-home as well as in-office time at GoodWork, a co-working space in the Cedars neighborhood just south of Deep Ellum in Dallas.

Details about CPAL:
One in 4 Dallas children are growing up in poverty. CPAL is working to reduce the child poverty rate by 50 percent in a single generation. We operate as an unofficial R&D department for Dallas, rethinking how data can be integrated into public systems, community programs, and neighborhood life to break cycles of intergenerational poverty. Guided by evidence, we focus on impactful strategies aligned with five 'big bets' for driving economic mobility in our community: Benefits Delivery, Maternal Health, Housing, Criminal Justice, and Safety.

Three key principles underpin CPAL’s approach:

• Design for scale: Child poverty is a problem of massive scale and requires the magnitude of government resources to fund solutions of equal scale. CPAL brings together the leaders of nine Dallas public agencies with a collective annual operating budget of over $10 billion to align local resources and take collective action on promising interventions.

• Center on evidence: CPAL develops and applies evidence-based outcomes frameworks on child poverty alleviation programs. Data is used to determine where to develop interventions and to evaluate if those interventions are working. CPAL equips our partners and community leaders to use data so they can make better decisions.

• Power with community expertise: By empowering community based organizations, residents, families, or frontline teams with tools, resources, and access to leaders, CPAL builds a broad coalition for sustainable efforts to combat child poverty.

How to Apply:

Email a current resume, a customized cover letter describing your interest in the position and the strengths you’d bring, and links to no more than three clips to hiring@cpal.org. We are eager to meet you!

Job Requirements

Qualifications:

• BA/BS degree.

• The ability to recognize important stories, and the skill to tell these stories in a way that connects the dots while remaining compelling.

• Aggressive in seeking out stories and accurate with attention to detail.

• Able to juggle shorter stories while reporting longer, magazine-style narratives.

• Excellent communication and storytelling skills and familiarity with AP style.

• At least five years reporting or editing experience.

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