Mississippi Today, one of Deep South Today’s nonprofit newsrooms, is seeking a Community Health Reporter to join its Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom.
The Community Health Reporter will be a cornerstone member of our health team, which serves Mississippians with access to data, fact-finding and dissemination of in-depth and explainer public health journalism. This team reports on how the health care system works, and in many cases does not, for Mississippians.
We dig deep on how health care providers, hospitals, insurers, governments and consumers are interconnected and impacted, with an eye for equity and access. Our readership includes thought leaders and everyday Mississippians who need accurate and easy-to-understand information on public health matters.
The ideal journalist will be someone who understands the health care considerations of rural and suburban Mississippians alike. This candidate will serve on a four-person team to focus on daily/breaking news stories as well as deeper-dive investigative features, to explore our state’s complicated public health framework and to bring some much-needed transparency to its processes.
Mississippi is a gold mine for eager journalists. In this position, you’ll travel the state and meet a diverse range of residents. Between the state’s abortion ban that ultimately led the highest court in the nation to strike down Roe v. Wade, a massive insurance dispute between the state’s largest hospital and largest insurer, an ongoing political battle over Medicaid expansion, and the state’s long-standing, poor public health outcomes, the stories to be told here are limitless.
Expectations:
- Work with a small team of journalists who are focused solely on health in Mississippi.
- Develop your own health story ideas as well as collaborate closely with a small team of like-minded journalists
- Get people to talk, finding willing sources and protect them while telling sensitive and timely stories
- Build trust: Many people who have been impacted by poor health services in Mississippi have been victims of predatory actions from other journalists or media outlets. This will require empathy, patience and savvy.
- Work with our Audience Team and data and visual journalists to create compelling story presentations.
It’s a plus if you have:
- Mississippi reporting experience
- Experience writing a combination of both longform stories and investigations
- A demonstrated ability to work quickly under tight deadlines
- A knowledge and understanding of nonprofit journalism
- Experience working in a collaborative newsroom setting
What you’ll get:
- The opportunity to work alongside award-winning journalists and make significant contributions to Mississippi’s only fully staffed, nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news and information source.
- Highly competitive salary with medical insurance, and options for vision and dental insurance.
- 29 days paid time off.
- Up to 12 weeks of parental family leave, with return-to-work flexibility.
- Simple IRA with 3 percent company matching. Group-term life insurance provided to employees ($15,000 policy).
- Support for professional training and attending industry conferences.
How to Apply:
We’re committed to building an inclusive newsroom that represents the people and communities we serve. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply for this position, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people who are differently abled.