Got a passion for K-12 education and the reporting chops to build a beat around it? We want to hear from you.
We’re looking for a reporter who excels at answering pressing questions during a pivotal time in Tennessee education. Rising housing costs are pushing more families into suburban and rural school districts; district and state leaders are debating how to teach race and history in schools; there’s a renewed push to censor what students can read; and the state is expected to launch a new voucher program for private school tuition.
Amid this collision of educational philosophies in a Southern state, your reporting will have a real impact. You’ll be able to help shape the conversation around public policy, gain regional and national attention with your reporting, and help our audience better understand the systems of power that govern and fund education in our region.
What would you be doing?
Here are the job responsibilities for a beat reporter at WPLN News:
- Work 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with nights and weekends as necessary.
- Produce 2-3 originally reported stories each week, a mix of short-term and long-term.
- Appear on and provide reporting assets for our daily show, This Is Nashville, as requested.
- Communicate proactively in daily news meetings and with other reporters on stories that overlap with your expertise.
- Pitch enterprising stories proactively and build sourcing to support this work.
- Participate in Flex and Weekend Reporting rotations.
- Be available to cover breaking news and scheduled special coverage as needed.
- Represent the station in fundraising activities and station events.
- Help foster a positive workplace culture.
What’s WPLN News?
WPLN News is the newsroom of Nashville Public Radio, a community-licensed, nonprofit news outlet that strives to cover our region with context, courage and respect. We aim to hold officials accountable and serve audiences that are often underrepresented in positions of power, including working-class folks, immigrants and people of color.
Within the newsroom, our collaborative and diverse team works together to help every journalist realize their potential on the job, while also giving them space to live a full life outside of it. We strive to perform at the highest level: In recent years, our newsroom has received a Peabody, a National Murrow Award and a Pulitzer finalist nod, as well as the Daniel Schorr Prize for the best public media journalist under 35.
Here’s what else we can offer:
- A salary starting at $52,000, commensurate with experience. (Bonus: Tennessee has no state income tax, so you keep more of your paycheck.)
- A generous 401K match of 7.5%
- 13 paid holidays a year, plus vacation and sick leave
- 40 days of paid parental or medical leave (including for adoptive or foster parents)
- Life insurance and long-term disability
- Employee Assistance Program, including six free sessions of counseling each year and basic legal help
- Employer pays up to 85% of health insurance premium
How does the application process work?
Right now, the application is only open to full-time employees of WPLN News. To apply, please upload the following to our JotForm application by July 6, 2022:
- Cover letter. Please explain how you would focus your education beat at WPLN News. Submit it as a PDF.
- Clips. Please upload 4 examples of your reporting work, including one short-term story. These do not have to be audio examples.
- Resume. Please keep it to one page, and submit it as a PDF. (No need to include your references on this — we’ll ask you for those later if you make it to the finalist round.)
Our search committee will evaluate those materials on the following criteria:
- Beat-building. Education is a broad beat, and one reporter can’t cover it all. Can you identify how you’d focus your coverage and what your priorities would be?
- Reporting. Specifically, how well can you break down complicated policies and show how they affect everyday people?
- Writing. You don’t need radio experience, but can you write in a way that could translate well to radio — using scene, descriptive writing, anecdotes, etc.?
- Commitment to equity. Do you seek out thoughtful stories about groups that are typically underrepresented in media and politics?
- Ability to balance short- and long-term stories. As a beat reporter, you’ll produce a few stories a week. Do you have experience with this kind of pace? Can you tell even short-term stories with enterprising angles?
After rating each application, our search committee will choose a set of finalists to interview. Finalists may be asked to complete a brief reporting exercise. If you do not make it to the finalist round, we will alert you by email as promptly as possible. (No ghosting here.) If you have further questions about the process, please email [email protected].
We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusivity in our hiring. Nashville Public Radio is an equal opportunity employer.