NEWSWELL is a new nonprofit devoted to local news, affiliated with Arizona State University, the nation’s most innovative university. Our prototype newsrooms are all in California, and they are poised to be epicenters of the immigration issue:

• Stocktonia, our newsroom in Stockton, serves San Joaquin County. With an estimated 55,000 undocumented residents, this county sits in the heart of the Central Valley, which grows nearly a quarter of America’s food supply and is dependent on migrant labor.
• Times of San Diego, our news site in San Diego, sits adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border and the busiest land-border crossing in the world. 
• The newly acquired Santa Barbara News-Press serves Santa Barbara County, including agricultural Santa Maria, which is about 80% Hispanic. The county is home to an estimated 44,000 undocumented residents. 

The immigration reporter will be based in or near one of our local news markets, or near our ASU in California home base in downtown L.A. This full-time reporting job may involve travel across our California areas, including regionally and/or nationally as warranted. 

The Immigration Reporter must demonstrate accuracy and fairness in the subject, and an ability to understand and report on the desires and intentions of many competing or opposed entities. This reporter should seek the on-record perspectives of immigrants, non-immigrants, law enforcement, policy makers and others, for a full view of the many conflicting opinions on the topic.  

The Immigration Reporter will have a proven track record of responsiveness to breaking news, independent enterprise story ideas and investigative or accountability reporting that exposes injustice or abuse of power. 

The reporter should have the ability to research and pursue public records, documents and data, engage in non-traditional story forms and work both independently and collaboratively. Because this role may involve solo travel, the ability to gather some visuals or multimedia on your own is also a plus.

NEWSWELL helps newsrooms become nonprofit and for-community. It provides strategic guidance, innovative solutions and wrap-around operations so local journalists can focus on local news, and newsrooms can best serve their communities. NEWSWELL partners with Arizona State University, the nation’s most innovative nine years in a row, to offer game-changing ideas, tools and research. NEWSWELL transforms local news to help communities and democracy thrive.

What you'll do

• Reporting on subject matter expertise in immigration policy, regulations on a state, regional and national level
• Identify, develop, report and write quick-turn news, enterprise stories and longer investigative or storytelling pieces about immigration policy, communities and effects across California, including regionally and nationally
• Publish stories for our three California news sites, to be shared with our content partners across California, including regionally and nationally
• Seek to hold local institutions and public agencies and officials accountable while also highlighting possible solutions
• Employ investigative reporting techniques, including developing deep sourcing, seeking public records, analyzing data and conducting in-depth interviews
• Report using traditional written forms as well as using audio, video or other formats as news demands
• Engage with communities across our news coverage areas
• Collaborate with colleagues across the newsroom and with NEWSWELL
• Use audience metrics to help identify topics and stories that resonate with readers
• Ensure all content is fact checked and meets ethical journalism standards
• Create an inclusive work environment that values diversity, fosters belonging, empowers others and nourishes a culture that pushes for and celebrates wins
• Foster a culture of innovation by harnessing fresh ideas and experimenting with new tools, technologies and techniques that enhance digital and social media storytelling
• Drive audience engagement through social media, SEO and immersive reporting experiences

What you'll need

• Ability to multitask and excel under deadline pressure, using time efficiently
• A passion for local news and a commitment to serving the community
• Track record of producing exclusive stories at a variety of levels
• Track record of digital reporting using multiple media or interactive formats

   

Relevant qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in journalism or related field related or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• At least (5) five years of reporting experience, preferably covering government or policy and its community effects
• Strong analytical, data and writing skills, with a keen eye for detail and a commitment to accuracy
• At least (2) two years of reporting experience on immigration policy, immigrant communities, border security or related topics, with a track record of enterprise reporting on the subject
• Fluency in Spanish

NEWSWELL is an Equal Opportunity Employer

About Newswell

NEWSWELL is a nonprofit organization that is part of Arizona State University Media Enterprise, a collection of broadcast, digital, podcast and other media entities reimagining the future of news. NEWSWELL offers comprehensive wraparound services, business planning and professional training to our local newsrooms, helping them build sustainable business models that focus on and serve their communities. NEWSWELL SUPPORTS ASU's CHARTER: “ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.”

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