Staff Writer, The Lab Report Dallas

Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc; Dallas (TX); Hybrid; USD 72,000 - 88,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental benefits

401(k) matching

11 paid holidays

Flexible vacation policy

Work-from-home and in-office

Job summary

The Lab Report Dallas is seeking an enterprising reporter to produce deeply reported narratives and breaking news that illuminate issues facing Dallas and other American cities. You will develop trusted sources in local government and with advocates, and contribute to newsletters, social media, and podcasts while maintaining editorial independence.

The role emphasizes context, accountability, and audience engagement.

Qualifications

• Must recognize important stories and tell them clearly.
• Aggressive in seeking out stories with attention to detail.
• Capable of juggling shorter pieces with longer magazine-style narratives.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills; familiarity with AP style.
• Minimum five years of reporting or editing experience.

Responsibilities

• Telling enterprise stories and breaking news with depth and context.
• Build trusted sources within local government and with stakeholders.
• Contribute to newsletters, social media, podcasts, and other reader outreach.

Skills

Storytelling

AP style

Communication

Attention to detail

Five years experience

Job description

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.

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.

Qualifications:

• 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.

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.

Other Information

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