Medical Reporter

The Houston Landing is growing our team of passionate people on a mission to advance democracy in our communities and strengthen the lives of all Houstonians one story at a time. Houston Landing is an independent, nonprofit digital news operation that will cover a broad range of topics serving the Greater Houston community. Houston Landing is initially supported by a coalition of three of Houston’s leading philanthropies including Arnold Ventures, The Houston Endowment and the Kinder Foundation.

At Houston Landing, we are expanding our newsroom team to include a health and medical reporter responsible for telling important, timely and engaging stories about the physical, mental and social well-being of the people who live in our communities and about the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. This position is full time and will be based in Houston.
Requirements

What you’ll do:

You’ll cover important and interesting news that emerges from one of the most critical beats in the Houston region, one that impacts every person who lives in this area of more than 7 million people – health and medical. These stories will range from compelling breaking news that needs to be written quickly to enterprise or feature stories that might take a week or more of reporting.
Living a healthy life is a fundamental right of every human being. We want this reporter to provide insightful, solutions-oriented and accountability reporting that helps all Houstonians fulfill that right.
You’ll write stories that highlight emerging and significant health problems in our region from cardiovascular diseases to low child immunization rates to obesity to depression to infectious diseases.
You’ll prioritize coverage of our most vulnerable communities – the high percentage of Houstonians who don’t have health insurance, health disparities among people of color, high rates of certain diseases and physical conditions among Black, Hispanic and Asian communities.
You’ll keep health agencies and medical institutions in Houston and Texas accountable in their roles as stewards of the public’s health.
You will be responsible for coverage of the Texas Medical Center and all its key institutions such as MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and Texas Children’s Hospital.
You will write about health care access and how that impacts people’s well being.
You will produce explainers and guides that help our communities understand and navigate complex and urgent health issues.
You will align your beat coverage around one of our key pillars: producing stories that offer solutions and improve civic engagement.
You will ensure your reporting prioritizes community information needs and includes diverse perspectives.

Who you are:

You have three or more years of journalism experience with a track record of doing enterprise and accountability reporting.
You have experience using multiple digital platforms to tell a story.
You have a flexible attitude that allows you to thrive at a digital startup and think creatively.
You are a curious, organized person who is always on the lookout for good story ideas and who knows how to stay on task to make those stories a reality.
You are committed to our mission of finding a new path for quality journalism.
You have a collaborative spirit, strong communication skills and a willingness to listen to diverse perspectives.
You’re committed to accuracy and meeting deadlines.

Benefits

Our Values

EXCELLENCE: We wake up every day with the intent to be the best at what we do. We hustle. We have grit. When we make mistakes, we’ll learn from them.

INCLUSION: We aren’t all the same, and those differences are what make us better. We’ll respect each person’s uniqueness. Perspective, context and life experiences help us to tell the story.

AMBITION: We will be bold and creative, open to all ideas big or small. We really mean it.

FUN: We are not making widgets, although there is nothing wrong with widgets. We tell stories and stories are often fun, so we believe in having lots of fun.

‍COLLABORATION: We are all in this together. We may not always agree, but we will listen to each other and communicate candidly and respectfully.

Benefits

Compensation commensurate with experience, minimum of $68,000
401(k)
Healthcare 100% premium paid for employee and 50% for dependents
20 vacation days
Ten personal/sick days
Generous paid parental leave
Hybrid work policy (initially we all work together to build culture)
Stipend for development / learning