We’re Hiring: Lead Streetsblog’s National Coverage

Editor’s note: Our search for a national reporter to take over Streetsblog Capitol Hill wouldn’t be complete without putting out a call to the audience with the greatest passion for livable streets and sustainable transportation policy — our readers.

We are looking for a talented professional journalist, eager to make an impact, to take over Streetsblog’s national coverage — creating original online content, interpreting news, and managing freelance writers and reporters. Building on the initial success of Streetsblog Capitol Hill, Streetsblog’s national reporter will research, write, and edit enterprise stories about the movement to reform the American transportation system by reducing motor vehicle congestion and automobile dependence, while improving conditions for transit use, cycling, and walking.

The ideal candidate shares our vision of Streetsblog as a respected, insightful information hub about how transportation and land use policy are shaped at the federal, state, and local levels — and why those policies should be improved. With Congress and the Obama administration dragging their feet on the passage of a critically important five-year transportation bill, Streetsblog’s national coverage will be essential both to make the case for reform to an influential audience of insiders, and to attract a constituency of grassroots advocates to press for more sustainable transportation and development policies.

Responsibilities

Streetsblog combines a distinct advocacy bent with newspaper-quality journalism. Toward that end, we are seeking a reporter with previous professional experience to do original research, interviews, investigation and coverage of events, and to develop and manage a stable of freelance contributors to round out the beat. The ideal candidate will be comfortable with the notion that journalism can be conducted with integrity and fidelity to the truth while retaining a point of view. The reporter and freelance staff will be expected to:

• Produce engaging enterprise pieces about local transportation stories happening around the country: Bus cuts in Atlanta, highway widenings in Kentucky, freeway-tolling fights in Pennsylvania, transit expansion plans in Los Angeles, bike and pedestrian safety projects in Indianapolis — all are part of the national Streetsblog beat.
• Manage the flow of transportation-related news from Congress in a timely manner: Track bills and provide updates on the status of transportation-related legislation.
• Conduct in-depth interviews and Q&As with lawmakers, lobbyists, activists, and experts.
• Cultivate relationships with advocacy groups and lobbyists working on federal transportation issues and state-level implementation. This includes everyone from environmental activists to highway lobbyists to state DOT watchdogs.

Qualifications

• Professional journalism experience, ideally covering the legislative process and/or transportation policy issues, and experience managing and editing other journalists
• Passion for and knowledge of progressive urban planning, transportation, and land use policy
  issues
• Excellent writing and research skills, as evidenced by clips
• Experience with Word Press or other blogging/content production technologies is a big plus

To Apply

Send a resume, cover letter, and relevant clips/links to jobs [at] streetsblog [dot] org. This position is full-time.