Inside the NNS Newsroom: We are hiring a reporter | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
August 11, 2022
Two of my most favorites words (besides “free food”) are: We’re hiring!
So if you care passionately about informing readers about health-related topics and giving Milwaukee residents the information they need to navigate complicated systems, then the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service wants to hear from you.
We seek a reporter who can dig into issues such as the city’s ongoing lead crisis, examine Milwaukee’s ongoing rise in violence from a public health perspective and report on how the pandemic continues to disproportionately affect our communities.
The bulk of your time will be spent serving as the newsroom’s health and communities reporter. But you also will have mini-beats as our newsroom is small yet mighty. In addition, you will be a key contributor to News 414, which delivers resources to community residents via texts.
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You need to be able to connect readers to resources that help them better navigate their lives while also ensuring that the ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things in the community are covered.
Because we serve communities that have been misrepresented, ignored or only get media attention when there is crime and conflict, NNS has a three-pronged editorial agenda. We celebrate the resilience of residents by consistently spotlighting the good works of our community leaders and organizations. We educate our readers by connecting them to resources that can help uncomplicate their busy lives. And we illuminate through good shoe-leather watchdog reporting issues that create much-needed dialogue while holding institutions and leaders accountable.
This job requires curiosity, creativity and tenacity. We seek reporters who have initiative, resolve and the willingness to dig deep while simultaneously centering the voices of communities of color into their stories. We are not looking for stenographers who summarize meetings or rewrite news releases. Instead, we seek journalists who can connect the dots and deliver insightful stories that leave our readers better informed.
The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) is a small but mighty nonprofit newsroom that serves the city’s Black and Latinx communities. Through our website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, we report on the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connect readers with resources they need to better their lives and we serve as a ferocious watchdog for our audience.
Our readers are our neighbors and filling their information needs is our top priority. We are an editorially independent project of Marquette University, which provides significant in-kind support and have offices in the Diederich College of Communication.
We consider our newsroom staff to be family and value collaboration, communication, creativity. We hire people for who they are … and for what they can become. We want everyone to win.
You’re a good fit if:
Audio or video reporting skills are a plus.
We expect great things. But we know no one can have all the skills listed above. So apply anyway.
We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, veterans and people with disabilities. We believe that a newsroom that includes a broad range of life experiences will ultimately produce better journalism.
The salary range for this position is $33,500 – $35,000 plus health benefits (https://www.marquette.edu/hr/employeebenefits.shtml)
You can reach out to Executive Director Ron Smith and discuss this position. He can be reached at ronald.smith@marquette.edu
To formally apply, please click this link https://employment.marquette.edu/postings/17364