Education Reporter

The Hechinger Report is looking for a Washington, D.C., area-based reporter to cover higher education news for our award-winning website and for our collaborations with our local and national news partners. The reporter will be a self-starter ready to cover education through the lens of Hechinger’s mission to reveal inequality and examine solutions and innovation in the field.

The reporter will report and write stories about higher education throughout the U.S., and as part of that beat will be expected to keep up to date on higher education news coming from the federal government and the many nonprofit groups working in the D.C. area.  We are not a breaking-news outlet; our aim is to provide deeply reported and expertly insightful coverage of the crucial issues faced by students, colleges and universities across the country. Although the Washington reporter’s job will be clearly weighted toward higher education, the reporter may also be asked to cover early childhood or K-12 education stories on occasion. The reporter will produce a biweekly Higher Education Newsletter.

The job will involve some travel (once it is safe) for reporting and occasional travel to New York City for meetings with other staff members.

A strong candidate will have some experience with investigative reporting and an interest in expanding his or her investigative reporting skills with Hechinger’s senior reporters and editors. The candidate must have the ability to juggle multiple long-form stories and meet deadlines. Experience covering traditionally disenfranchised communities is required.

Because we are housed at Teachers College at Columbia University, this position includes the College’s comprehensive full-time benefits package, described here.   

Minimum Qualifications:

•  Degree in journalism or equivalent reporting experience
• Excellent news judgment and ability to spot trends and important stories that haven’t been covered elsewhere 
• Demonstrated ability to write with style and confidence about complicated topics — including research, policy debates and big ideas — in a way that engages the general public
• Demonstrated ability to take decent photographs
• Demonstrated ability to use data in reporting (beyond citing a statistic) 
• Confidence to discuss stories on radio, TV or on panels at conferences
• Readiness to assist with investigative reporting projects
• At least 5 years reporting experience

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Master’s degree in journalism  
• At least two years covering education 
• Experience with data analysis
• Experience assisting on or leading investigative projects
• Demonstrated ability to take excellent photographs
• Confidence and experience appearing on broadcast media