Community Engagement Reporter, Hartford

Job Requirements

The Connecticut Mirror (www.CTMirror.org), a nonprofit, Pulitzer Prize-winning statewide news organization, has an immediate opening for a full-time Community Engagement Reporter in Hartford to join an existing position in Bridgeport.

The two community engagement reporters are part of CT Mirror’s “Raising Voices Lab,” a form of local service journalism with the goal of understanding and meeting the information needs of communities of color and telling stories that have historically been absent from dominant narratives about underrepresented communities.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Build relationships and understand information needs in various Hartford neighborhoods through informal and ongoing community listening and crowdsourcing questions that are most important to community members.
2. Conduct research on the crowdsourced questions and distribute the findings / answers back out to communities via weekly texts, social media posts, community events, and Explainers on the CT Mirror website and newsletters
3. Produce a monthly short to mid-length story about what’s working in communities of color across all dimensions (e.g., economics, culture, education, health, morale, justice, environment, civic engagement).
4. Share learning from the community with CT Mirror’s current beat reporters to engage them in more reporting on topics that communities are interested in.

Required Qualities:

• Three years of journalism experience.
• Excellent writing, research, and project management skills.
• Experience in service journalism that understands community needs and identifies and communicates resources back to communities to help address those needs.
• Willingness to learn, a burning curiosity, an instinct to innovate, and a hunger to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Natural collaborator and tenacious self-starter.
• The confidence to ask for advice when needed.
• Proficiency in Spanish is preferred.

Our Commitment to You:

• A salary of $60,000 to $65,000 based on experience and skills.
• Medical and dental benefits, generous paid-time-off policy and a 403(b) deferred retirement savings plan and company match.
• Professional development, including opportunities for travel to industry conferences and opportunities to take on additional responsibilities over time.
• Transparent internal review and feedback process and merit-based salary increases.
• You’ll work hard because we’re serious about our mission, but you’ll laugh plenty along the way!
• We embrace the American Press Institute’s Guiding Principles for Nonprofit Newsrooms.

About CT Mirror:

CT Mirror is a journalism success story with huge momentum and ambitious growth goals. Founded in 2009, we have historically covered public policy, government and politics in Connecticut. Our 26-person full-time staff includes 21 journalists and five business team members.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

CT Mirror is committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status in any of our hiring, procurement, volunteer recruitment, or other activities or operations. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, board, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and readers.

Apply Today!

Do you think you have some of this experience and aptitude, but not all of it? We encourage you to apply! We are open to a range of different experiences and options for this role, and we know that no candidate is going to check every box we have outlined here.

Please apply by Monday, July 20, using this form https://airtable.com/appmPgbUU6FJ7IgXB/shrZ60sLmufpaejm9. You will need to include a resume and a cover letter that describes your interest in this role, plus two writing samples of your work. Questions? Contact Elizabeth Hamilton via email at ehamilton@ctmirror.org. No phone calls please.

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