Reporter (Report for America)

The Ouray County Plaindealer is a weekly newspaper. It’s been operating since 1877, since miners and other settlers came to this mountainous area of Colorado to seek their fortunes and make a living. Today, the Plaindealer’s readership includes locals whose families have been in the area for just as long as the newspaper, as well as newcomers who have moved to Ouray County after retiring or to work in the tourism industry. One of the notable things about the Plaindealer’s circulation is we deliver to 41 states—and are discovering that many of these subscribers are part-time residents or folks who wish to move here someday. The Plaindealer is the paper of record for Ouray County, and it’s what people rely on to know what happened at city and town council meetings, who said what at the school board retreat, and what happened to that bear that was wandering around town breaking into people’s houses. The goal is to provide The Plaindealer’s publishers, a couple who bought the newspaper in April 2019, are longtime Colorado journalists who left the largest newspaper in the western half of the state to purchase the weekly and bring quality journalism to the publication. They believe that even small, rural places deserve good journalism.
Open Position

Location: Ridgway, Colorado

Beat: Local government accountability in rural Colorado
Position:

Keeping track of local government is paramount in a rural county without any other sources of reliable, vetted journalism. The local government accountability reporter for the Ouray County Plaindealer acts as the watchdog keeping track of those who make important decisions and explaining how local government affects the community. This position is ideal for journalists interested in directly supporting democracy in this engaged community that wants to be kept informed.

Salary and Benefits:
$37,500-$40,500

Health care stipend, two weeks paid vacation, one week sick time.

Skills: Reporting

This position is sponsored in part by Report for America, a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.

All Report for America Newsroom Partners are Equal Opportunity.