KUNC Reporter - Mountain West News Bureau

Pay Range: $55,000-63,000 Annually

Full Time: Yes

Exempt: Yes

Reports to: Senior Managing Editor

Summary:

This position is based at KUNC News and reports for the Mountain West News Bureau. The MWNB is a collaboration of 13 public radio stations in various Rocky Mountain states covering regional issues affecting the American West, including topics such as wildlife, land use, the environment, tribal communities, health, growth, education, and politics. MWNB is partially funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The reporter is responsible for communicating information on-air and online, in a clear, engaging, and professional manner. The reporter must be a productive, responsible, and enterprising individual with a passion for how global, national, and regional issues connect to the Mountain West listening area.

Essential Functions:

• Files spot news, enterprise features and occasional investigative series and podcast episodes that appeal to listeners across New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming under the supervision of a remote managing editor.

• Works with KUNC's news director and other staff members to help with duties related to the station's larger mission, such as participating in community events or station pledge drives.

• Requires travel around the state and occasionally outside of the state for covering news stories and events.

• Reports, writes and produces original stories that live up to KUNC’s and NPR's standards for accuracy, fairness, and newsworthiness.

• Finds diverse sources and makes use of reporting tools like FOIA and CORA, database acquisition and analysis and data mining to uncover original stories that matter.

• Emphasizes stories that elevate marginalized voices and shine light on systematic inequities and failures.

• Reports both short-term and medium-term projects, sometimes simultaneously.

• Uses and creates audience engagement opportunities to become informed on topics important to listeners.

• Responsible for filing to all of KUNC’s editorial platforms, including digital and visual media, social networks, and various audio platforms, with the goal of reaching the largest audiences with the biggest impact.

• Completes data analysis; requests records under state and federal laws; obtains original documents; completes fact checking and verification.

• Uncovers and reports important news information and generates stories that go beyond chronicling and create impact and potentially change.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Serves as a backup host on KUNC, when needed.

• Participates in station fundraising, development, and promotional functions.

• Generates newscast content on topics related to ongoing and previous investigations.

• Performs other duties as assigned by Executive News Director and Senior Managing Editor.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge

• Basic understanding of investigative reporting skills and data journalism.

• Broadcast, digital recording, and editing equipment.

• FCC guidelines and requirements.

• Digital and social media concepts and tools.

• In-depth knowledge and experience reporting on Hispanic/Latino and/or Native American cultures, communities, and constituencies preferred.

Skills

• Basic hosting skills preferred.

• On-air presentations, as well as interview, writing and production skills.

• Proficient in multimedia storytelling and social media.

• Editorial judgment; fair and accurate news writing; a sense of mission; and interviews and online work as required.

• Operating a personal computer with proficient skills in Excel, Outlook, Word, and audio editing software.

• Demonstrated understanding of digital and social media concepts and tools and ability to think creatively about digital content.

• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing utilizing proper grammar.

• Perform work professionally, with ethics and integrity, and maintain confidentiality when required.

Abilities

• Ability to work with little supervision and to exercise good independent judgment.

• Translate complex information to listeners without losing nuance.

• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and the community.

• Think creatively about digital content.

• Productive, responsible, and enterprising individual possessing a grasp of how global, national, and regional issues connect to the KUNC listening area.

• Maintain high journalistic standards of objectivity, balance, and fairness.

• Handle multiple priorities and simultaneous demands, organizing and completing tasks according to their importance.

• Commit to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

• Consistently work well with others, demonstrating at all times respect for the diverse constituencies at KUNC and within the public broadcasting system.

Experience and Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED is required and a bachelor's degree in journalism, broadcast communication, or similar field is preferred.

• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in news reporting required, with professional broadcast news and hosting experience preferred.

• A valid Colorado driver’s license and a vehicle is required.

• Must be located in Colorado coverage area for radio station.

• Bilingual in Spanish is preferred.

Physical Demands

The employee is required to frequently stand, walk, sit, use hands and fingers, reach, and lift with arms, climb, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is required to frequently lift up to 30 pounds without assistance. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision; distance vision; peripheral vision; depth perception; and the ability to adjust focus.

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Work Environment

The office is based in Greeley, but this is a remote position required to travel to other locations for interviews, station events and donor meetings.

The job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.

Community Radio for Northern Colorado’s (CRNC) mission is to strengthen our community by cultivating the mind and spirit - informing, inspiring, and entertaining. To fully live up to this mission, this position must strive to include diverse voices and amplify those from groups that are rarely heard in the media. CRNC is an equal employment opportunity employer. We strive to make CRNC an example for other media organizations by modeling diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization.

Working at CRNC:

CRNC cares deeply about our employees, and we understand that attracting, developing, and growing talent is key to our success and enhancing our impact. We value colleagues who will enhance our culture by bringing new ideas, diverse experiences, and talents to our dynamic workplace. Our goal is to foster a culture of collaboration and innovation.

CRNC’s dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion is reflective in our company. We are fully focused on equality of opportunity and believe deeply in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, national origin, experience, and all other fascinating characteristics that make us different. Who Gets to Work Here: We strive to recruit, hire, and create a team of employees that demonstrate these qualities:

Cultural Competency: A high level of cultural competency and a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace expressed in both approach and experience.

Collaboration: Effective collaboration and an appreciation of teamwork. Someone who enjoys spending time with others and respects hearing other perspectives and points of view.

Honesty: Honesty is a vital quality for our employees. We expect employees to be truthful with other employees, as well as our customers and stakeholders.

Innovation: Examining content and connections through new and energizing viewpoints. Always seeking to improve how we serve the public by being a welcoming organization to new ideas and initiatives.

Inquisitiveness: Someone who is always striving to learn more and increase their knowledge and that will use the information gathered and skills practiced improving their work performance and relationships with co-workers.

Humility: People on our team should feel pride in their work, but not to the extent of becoming arrogant.

Respect: Acknowledge people’s lived experiences and diverse viewpoints.

About CRNC:

CRNC is a community-licensed public radio station, operated by Community Radio for Northern Colorado, Inc., a 501 (c) 3, Colorado non-profit organization. The KUNC News Team is a group of dedicated journalists, who are committed to telling the stories of our diverse communities, reflecting the people who live in those communities, and amplifying their voices. We operate with a team mentality, creating engaging and relevant content focusing on internal and external collaboration and experimenting with content styles and distribution. KUNC is a news and information staple within northern Colorado, serving numerous rural, mountain, and city communities for over 50 years. Our non-commercial music service, The Colorado Sound, offers unique and diverse music discovery programming. We are based in Northern Colorado but heard throughout the state, across the country, and around the world. The Colorado Sound brings the spirit and soul of Colorado to our listeners through a cross-genre mix of new music, familiar favorites, and regional standouts. KUNC and The Colorado Sound aim to strengthen our communities by cultivating the mind and spirit - informing, inspiring and entertaining. To fully live up to this mission, we strive to include diverse voices and amplify those from groups that are rarely heard from in the media.

CRNC offers competitive salaries and generous benefits, including health, dental, and vision. life & short-term disability insurance, as well as 403b retirement, paid leave, and much more.