Streetsblog Chicago, the region’s sustainable transportation news and advocacy website, is seeking a bilingual reporter to
contribute one article a week in English on transportation issues relevant to Latino communities in the city and the suburbs, and then translate the edited piece into Spanish, so that it can be published in both languages. The position is salaried at $250 a week, requiring about 10 hours a week (roughly eight hours to research and write the article, plus two hours for translation work.)
Position overview
Streetsblog’s focus is promoting better conditions for walking, biking, and transit in Chicagoland. Topics we cover include projects to improve sustainable transportation; traffic safety, including tracking pedestrian and bike fatalities; transit-oriented development, especially affordable housing near CTA and Metra stops; and efforts to create better public space. Our overall goal is to promote a safer, more efficient, more equitable, and more environmentally-friendly transportation system, which will help create a more just, prosperous, and vibrant city and region.
We’re interested in increasing our coverage of these topics in majority-Latino neighborhoods and suburbs. We also want to publish more articles on the intersection of transportation and social justice matters that are specific to these communities. Examples of this kind of writing Streetsblog has published in the past have included discussions of how freedom of mobility is impacted by concerns about immigration enforcement, street crime, and racial profiling by police, plus environmental issues and truck traffic in industrial areas. We’ve also looked at how rising housing costs associated with gentrification have made it more difficult for lower-income and working-class Chicagoans to live in areas with good transit access, which in turn affects education and job opportunities.
In addition we want to increase our coverage of grass-roots efforts to improve transportation safety and access in Latino communities. Examples include campaigns to win better bus service; efforts to build equitable transit-oriented development; community input to help get bike lanes and bike-share stations installed in useful locations; and group bike rides to promote public safety and community unity. Our aim is to amplify the voices of local mobility justice advocates.
Job description
The reporter will be responsible for writing one 800-1,200-word article, plus providing images to illustrate it, per week, working independently from home or in the field. Research for the articles may include conducting phone or in-person interviews, attending community meetings and press events online or onsite, and checking out new infrastructure and transportation facilities. The writer may take paid vacation four weeks a year (getting paid the usual $250 without turning in an article.)
Qualifications
The ideal candidate will be passionate about social justice as well as sustainable transportation. The reporter must be fluent in English and Spanish, and previous experience with translation or interpreting work is a major plus. The person should have strong writing skills, and experience writing news and opinion articles would be helpful. A good eye for photography would also be useful, although no special gear is needed – cell phone photos are fine for illustrating articles.
To apply
Email a resume and two writing samples in English, preferably news or opinion articles, ideally about social justice and/or transportation matters, to Streetsblog Chicago co-editor John Greenfield at jgreenfield[at]streetsblog.org with “Latino Communities Reporter” in the subject line by October 15. An additional writing sample in Spanish would also be helpful. A formal cover letter is not necessary, but please include a few sentences in the email explaining why you’re interested in the job, and why you think you’d be a good fit.
