Mississippi Today is seeking an experienced reporter to join our new Health team.

The Community Health Reporter will be a founding member of our new team, which will create a hub for Mississippians to access data, fact-finding and dissemination of in-depth and explainer public health journalism. Through this team, we will report on how the healthcare system works, and in some cases does not, in Mississippi. We will dig deep on how healthcare providers, hospitals, insurers, governments and consumers are interconnected and impacted, with an eye for equity and access. We will build a readership targeted at thought leaders and everyday Mississippians who most need accurate and easy-to-understand information on public health matters.

The ideal journalist will be someone with reporting experience who understands the health care considerations of rural and suburban Mississippians alike. This candidate will serve on a four-person Health team — including an editor, two reporters and a data journalist — to thoughtfully create a multifaceted portofolio of reporting, including daily/breaking news stories as well as deeper-dive investigative features, to explore our state’s complicated public health framework and bring some much-needed transparency to its processes. 

Mississippi is a gold mine for eager journalists. What happens in Mississippi often affects the trajectory of the nation. Between the state’s abortion ban soon to be taken up by the highest court in the nation, an ongoing campaign to encourage Mississippians to get their COVID shots or else remain the one of the least vaccinated states, and a brewing battle over Medicaid expansion, the public health 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 be willing to collaborate closely with a small team of like-minded journalists
  • Get people to talk, finding willing sources and being able to 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, and 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.
  • Cell phone stipend.
  • 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:

Fill out an application at this link.

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.

Questions? 

Email Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau at adam@mississippitoday.org or Managing Editor Kayleigh Skinner at kayleigh@mississippitoday.org.


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