WE’RE HIRING: Block Club Chicago seeking a neighborhood-obsessed reporter for Wicker Park, Bucktown and West Town
About us
Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.
The site was created by former DNAinfo Chicago editors following the shutdown of DNAinfo in November of 2017. After hearing from people all over the city about how much they missed our truly local coverage, we knew we had to get back to work. Our focus remains on telling stories that matter in the neighborhoods, and growing our coverage sustainably through reader and donor support.
We decided to call ourselves Block Club because we felt it reflected our mission: to build community through truly ground-level reporting of the city’s neighborhoods.
About the job
We’re looking for a reporter to cover the Wicker Park, Bucktown and West Town neighborhoods of Chicago.
You’ll be expected to cover everything from local school council meetings and community policing efforts to restaurant openings and real estate developments. Night meetings are common. This is not a 9–5 job (though it is typically Monday-Friday).
Block Club Chicago reporters are expected to build sources and contacts in the communities they cover. Plan on getting texts and emails from neighbors and becoming a well-known fixture in your neighborhood. This is a remote position (we want you to be embedded in the community), but we’ll have staff meetings in our Loop office and you’ll check in with your editor several times a day.
This is not a job for someone who wants to write one story a week. You’ll be expected to have one or two fresh stories daily. There will be opportunities to work on longer-form, investigative pieces, but the majority of the job is keeping your readers up to date on daily news from the neighborhood.
The Perks
- Full benefits (medical, dental, vision), 401K
- 3 weeks paid vacation
- Ability to pitch your own stories every day and explore things that interest you
- Supportive, scrappy, tight-knit editorial team
Requirements
- Familiarity with Wicker Park, Bucktown or West Town (residents or former residents of these neighborhoods preferred)
- At least two years of reporting experience — please include news clips and not marketing or copywriting samples.
- Ability to shoot your own photos in the field
- Experience promoting your stories on social media
- Ability to generate story ideas and willingness to hear from neighbors and readers
- Experience covering community meetings or a neighborhood beat in the past a plus!
How to Apply
- Email a cover letter (the email itself can be your cover letter), resume and 3 or 4 of your best stories to newsroom (at) blockclubchi (dot) org along with two references. Put “Wicker Park Reporter Position” in the subject line, please!
- Deadline for applications is June 24, 2021
Block Club Chicago is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to everyone regardless of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, age, physical and mental disability and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Block Club Chicago believes that diversity and inclusion among our staff makes us a better newsroom more able to accurately report on the neighborhoods of Chicago.
