Job Description

Position: Staff reporter, Chalkbeat Tennessee
Location: Memphis, TN
Job status: Full-time
Salary: Negotiable

Chalkbeat Tennessee, the independent nonprofit news organization covering Tennessee public schools, is seeking an experienced journalist to deliver high-quality reporting about public education in Memphis/Shelby County.

The job
The staff reporter will work collaboratively with Chalkbeat Tennessee bureau chief Daarel Burnette and managing editor Marta Aldrich to cover the state’s largest public school district, focusing on issues such as school choice, equity, funding, student learning and teacher effectiveness. The position requires daily coverage of Shelby County Schools, which consolidated in 2013 with Memphis City Schools in one of the nation’s largest school mergers in history, and the subsequent state takeover of many of its schools for substandard academic performance, as well as the district’s ongoing efforts to address chronic challenges in teacher recruitment/development and the post-secondary readiness of its students. The reporter also will cover a rapidly growing charter sector and new school districts in six suburban municipalities that split from Shelby County Schools in 2014.

The right candidate
You have at least two years of experience as a journalist and a desire to develop as a top-shelf education writer, as well as a fascination with the rapidly changing environment in public education. You are energized by our mission and excited to help us build a news organization that re-imagines daily newsgathering while embracing traditional journalistic values. You are entrepreneurial, creative, energetic and a tenacious reporter. You have a desire to collaborate with editors to turn top-notch reporting into top-notch stories. You believe that journalism can and should take many forms, from databases to events to newsletters and social media. You have multimedia, database and social media reporting skills, along with experience covering public policy issues and accessing and analyzing public records. You have a high level of comfort with the exciting opportunities and challenges inherent in developing a young news operation. Most importantly, you see great value in giving people the reporting they need to make informed decisions about education issues in Memphis and Shelby County.

Compensation
Compensation depends on experience and is competitive, with full benefits package and, after one year of service, a 401k. Chalkbeat is committed to equity and diversity in employment and encourages candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

About Chalkbeat Tennessee
Chalkbeat Tennessee is one of the first expansion sites of Chalkbeat, the national independent nonprofit news organization covering efforts to transform public education in communities where change matters most. Chalkbeat Tennessee focuses its coverage on Shelby County Schools and state-level policy. The Tennessee bureau includes two reporters in Memphis and one legislative reporter and a managing editor in Nashville. We are mission-driven journalists who believe that an independent local press is vital to ensuring advancement and accountability in education. We seek to provide deep, contextualized local coverage of education policy and practice that informs decisions and actions, leading to better schools.

Chalkbeat was founded in 2013 as a merger of GothamSchools and EdNews Colorado, the award-winning news sites now known as Chalkbeat New York and Chalkbeat Colorado. While all Chalkbeat bureaus work collectively to sustain our operations, each bureau is editorially independent.

The application
Send your resume and a short cover letter explaining why you would be a good fit to Marta Aldrich at [email protected].

Job Types: Full-Time. Job Tags: education.

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