COMMUNITIES REPORTER, SOUTH DALLAS COUNTY

KERA, the public media company of North Texas, is seeking an enterprising and ambitious Communities Reporter – South Dallas County to join the KERA News team. Serving the country’s fourth-largest media market, KERA reaches more than 5 million people monthly through KERA TV, KERA News, KXT, WRR, The Denton Record-Chronicle, and national shows Think and From the Top. For more than 65 years, North Texans have turned to KERA as a destination for community engagement and lifelong learning.

About the role

The Communities Reporter, South Dallas County is a full-time position that is part of KERA’s growing newsroom. The reporter will cover news, developments, and trends in the suburbs and diverse communities across southern Dallas County. This role requires a thoughtful and experienced reporter with a passion for elevating people’s voices, balancing policy knowledge with human-centered reporting mindful of equity issues. The ideal candidate is a strong audio and digital reporter comfortable going live on the radio, producing quick-turn daily stories, and diving into bigger-picture feature reporting while adhering to public media ethics and standards.

Responsibilities

• Tell stories about communities around South Dallas County through the people who live there.
• Create engaging multimedia stories from interviews, research, data, and analysis.
• Report on issues that touch everyone with high impact and deep substance.
• Stay on top of major news, identify trends, and develop deep knowledge of policies and how they affect local communities.
• Build and maintain a community around the beat, including industry leaders, elected officials, experts, researchers, and community members, with an emphasis on community engagement and on-the-ground reporting.
• Produce a mix of daily news, enterprise, and investigative stories.
• Fill in on newscasts as needed.
• Work collaboratively with KERA’s team and partners across the state to build expertise, contribute compelling story ideas, and experiment with innovative storytelling techniques.
• Cover breaking news in North Texas and beyond, sometimes outside the scope of the beat, including a rotating on-call schedule and work outside standard 9-5 business hours.
• Develop distinctive audio and digital stories focused on the KERA listening area, with statewide and national context and impact.
• Actively participate in KERA fundraising campaigns.
• Work in a manner consistent with KERA’s mission, vision, and values, and maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures.

Requirements

• 3 or more years of professional journalism experience.
• Passion for community and solutions journalism.
• Strong audio reporting and production skills, and solid news writing skills.
• Ability to generate dynamic, creative story ideas.
• Ability to shift journalistic modes quickly, from deadline reporting to deep investigative work.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity in reporting and sourcing.
• Knowledge of Associated Press style, ability to exercise sound news judgment, and follow KERA/NPR ethics and editorial standards.
• Ability to conduct newscasts.
• Passion and enthusiasm for public media journalism and serving a diverse North Texas audience.
• Reliable transportation required for assignments outside of the office.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in community reporting, particularly focused on disparities in underserved communities.
• Public radio production experience.
• Knowledge of North Texas people, cultures, issues, and geography, as well as national and international issues and events.
• Fluency in Spanish and/or other languages common in Texas.
• Experience with multimedia production (photography or video), WordPress, audio production, or the Adobe Suite.

Pay

$60,000 - $70,000 annually, depending on experience.

Benefits

• Generous vacation (3 weeks), sick leave (8 days), personal time (2 days), and holidays (11).
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• KERA-paid short- and long-term disability, basic life insurance, and AD&D insurance.
• Flexible scheduling and hybrid work environment.
• 401k plan with KERA contribution after 6 months.
• Robust employee assistance program available to the employee and all members of their household.
• Strong company culture focused on connection, belonging, and professional growth.

Schedule

This position will work out of the Dallas office at least 40% of the time (equivalent to 16 hours per week). Time in office requirements are subject to change based on the needs of KERA and/or the position. The role includes a rotating on-call schedule and work outside standard 9-5 business hours.