Early Education Reporter

The Baltimore Banner is a nonprofit newsroom founded to bring high-quality local journalism to the Baltimore metro area. We are creating a vibrant, strong, trustworthy, and sustainable news organization, seeking to re-imagine the future of local news. Using a multi-platform news operation, covering a broad range of topics from local government to culture and the arts. We tell stories that reflect the community, connecting neighbors, holding government institutions accountable, and making sense of the world. All this work is grounded in truth. We believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed, and whole Baltimore, surrounding counties, and the state of Maryland.

About the role:

The Baltimore Banner is seeking a skilled and dedicated reporter to cover early childhood education and wellbeing in the Baltimore region.

The early childhood reporter will cover a cross-section of education, health and social issues that affect Maryland’s youngest residents from birth through age 5, when children’s brains develop most. The beat will cover maternal and infant health, child care issues that include a labor shortage, kindergarten readiness, and the expansion of public preschool, one of pillars of The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, landmark education legislation that commits billions of dollars to improving the state’s schools. This reporter should be equally comfortable pitching issue-focused enterprise stories and covering breaking news.

The early childhood reporter should be adept at building relationships with broad and diverse source networks; this reporter will talk regularly with public education officials, lawmakers, public and private preschool teachers, early childhood education advocates, researchers, students and parents. The early childhood reporter should also have a strong understanding of the primary audience for this coverage — parents — and what interests them.

Collaboration is a key aspect of this role, as the reporter will work closely with The Banner's news partners and be comfortable making appearances on radio and TV. We value data-driven journalism, and the ideal candidate will collaborate with data journalists to produce stories that have a significant impact.

Responsibilities:

Produce a steady stream of compelling enterprise stories that highlight issues and trends, and hold public officials accountable
Break news stories related to the early childhood beat
Tell stories in creative and nontraditional formats, making use of visuals, social media and data
Collaborate with The Banner's audience and data teams to engage the audience and distribute content across all platforms
Work in coordination with other Baltimore Banner editors, reporters, and staff to cover how early childhood education intersects with other topics

Requirements:

Minimum of five years of experience in journalism
Strong writing skills and the ability to present complex topics in a conversational manner
Excellent news judgment and fact-checking skills
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
Passion for news and content that resonates with readers, particularly parents
Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
Exceptional interpersonal skills
Willingness to work evenings and weekends as news demands
Excellent planning, organizational, and time management abilities
Familiarity with audience metrics, social media, and SEO to drive audience growth and digital subscriptions
Commitment to upholding journalistic values and ethics