Race & Culture Reporter

KCUR 89.3, NPR in Kansas City
Kansas City , MO

Application Deadline: Friday, Sep 09, 2022

Description

KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, seeks a reporter to tell the myriad stories of our city through the lens of race, equity and diversity.

As a major metropolitan area of 2 million people spreading out over two states in the center of the country, Kansas City is the perfect place for enterprising and urgent reporting on the stories of our time. People here have always lived at the intersection of cultures, and our history has played a crucial role in national events leading up to this moment.

In a river town where fur traders did business with American Indians, where pro-slavery Missourians clashed with Kansas abolitionists 150 years ago, today’s explorers are artists, entrepreneurs and activists who enrich and enliven the entire metro while continuing to confront the systemic racism and other concerns being raised by diverse and passionate voices throughout the country.

Our race and culture reporter will be welcomed into an ambitious yet flexible workplace. KCUR employs journalists with a wide range of backgrounds, at all stages of their careers, from all over the country.

Our new colleague doesn’t need radio reporting experience — we have experts who are happy to teach those skills — but they must have strong writing talent and must share our commitment to serving all of our audiences, tracking the diversity of sources and contributing to our positive and welcoming work environment.

This reporter will brainstorm, research, write, report and produce spot news, digital stories and long-form audio features. They will also create social content to accompany their stories, participate in community engagement efforts and appear on talk shows, podcasts and community panels, as needed.

We’re looking for someone who can work on different projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment, who can take direction and work collaboratively, and who can produce to the highest journalistic standards.

They will have access to expertise and opportunities to collaborate with our regional partners including NPR’s Midwest Newsroom, Harvest Public Media and the Kansas News Service, all based at KCUR.

Characteristic duties

  • Stays abreast of daily developments and builds a broad base of knowledge, sources and expertise on race and culture-related topics.
  • Identifies, researches, pitches, writes, reports, edits and voices spots, two-ways and feature stories for morning and afternoon news magazines, local talk shows and national programs as appropriate, and writes accompanying digital stories.
  • Anticipates and responds to breaking news.
  • Tracks source demographics.
  • Suggests story ideas and helps focus story angles for colleagues working on related subjects; collaborates with other KCUR reporters and talk show producers on projects.
  • Contributes segment ideas and appears as a guest or host on KCUR’s local talk show, podcasts and community events, as needed.
  • Collaborates with the KCUR’s partners, including the Kansas News Service, Harvest Public Media, the Midwest Newsroom and national entities to share content across multiple platforms.
  • Handles newscasts and/or announcing, as needed.
  • Participates in all assigned fund-raising and outreach activities, on air and off.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Minimum qualifications

A Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience and at least three years of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary.

Preferred qualifications

  • A deep understanding of how race and ethnicity shapes the lives of individuals and communities, influences policy at all levels and contributes richness and joy to a complex and diverse place such as the Kansas City metropolitan area.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills and good news judgment.
  • A bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications or a related field.
  • Five years of experience producing news content for digital and social platforms.
  • One year of work experience in a radio, news or public media organization.
  • Demonstrated ability to cover breaking news as well as report through long-form, innovative storytelling.
  • Demonstrated ability to elevate the stories of individuals and communities who are traditionally excluded from power and media attention.
  • Demonstrated ability to take direction and work collaboratively.
  • Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
  • Enthusiasm for the role of public media in a changing journalism environment.
  • Experience operating digital editing systems (e.g. Adobe Audition), field recording units and other audio production equipment.

Salary

Up to $53,000, based on experience, internal equity and education.

How to Apply

KCUR 89.3 is the NPR affiliate in Kansas City and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Please apply online at UMKC’s website: https://info.umkc.edu/hr/careers/ Select “Staff Position,” then “View Jobs,” then “View All Jobs.” This posting will remain open until filled; review of applications to begin August 22, 2022.

For additional information about this position, please contact: