Student journalism was the original program that started Boyle Heights Beat and is one of the cornerstones of the LA Local News Initiative’s mission. As such, the Student Journalism Coordinator will help lead the initiative’s efforts to ensure student participants in the initiative’s programs continue to get a positive learning experience from their time with the LA Local News Initiative as the program expands beyond Boyle Heights.

You’ll be part of a team who are the organization’s chief advocates of community voices in all of our programs. Reporting to the Managing Director of Student Journalism and Engagement and working alongside youth mentors, the Student Journalism Coordinator will support training and orientation for student participants, and execute a plan for keeping students engaged throughout the school year. This may include, but isn’t limited to, keeping mentors and students on deadline, shepherding their story process from ideation, to reporting, drafting, and edits, so that they can be published by the initiative or one of its partners, and developing and coordinating field trips and other activities. The mentorship coordinator  will also work with the community engagement director to continue growing the alumni council, and to develop programming to keep alumni actively engaged.

Alumni of this program will move on to be contributors to their communities, whether through journalism or other career paths. This role is an opportunity to think outside the box and get creative in building a talent pipeline for community journalism, and strengthening LA communities by equipping youth to engage more in their local communities.

This role is for you if you have strong communication skills, are experienced and enthusiastic about working with youth, and have a passion for organizing people to address big problems from the ground up.

The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is a nonprofit startup dedicated to revitalizing local journalism in Los Angeles. We're building a new model for community-focused news that connects neighborhood-level reporting with broader regional issues. Our approach combines dedicated community newsrooms with a central hub that amplifies local stories, identifies cross-community trends, and produces region-wide coverage that matters to all Angelenos.

• Free, Independent Local Press: We believe all Angelenos deserve to have a source of unbiased information that equips them to thrive in their daily lives. Our work will meet high journalism standards, be independent, non-partisan, and free to access. We’ll prioritize reaching as many Angelenos as possible, in the most effective ways possible.
• Community-first: We center the needs of local communities, with an ultimate goal to strengthen communities and make LA work better for Angelenos. Journalism should be focused on serving people most affected by the subject matter, and equipping them to take action.
• Equity & Inclusion: We need a representative, equitable, and inclusive local press. Newsrooms should be representative of the communities they cover, shift narratives to be centered on community perspectives, and provide pathways into news gathering for residents.‍
• Trust: We believe that building trust must be a core principle of our journalism. As a baseline, the journalism we support must be accurate, independent, unbiased, non-partisan, and a trusted source of shared facts by the communities we serve.

• Reports to managing director of engagement and student journalism and coordinates all interactions with high school students
• Will attend weekly student journalism meetings in person
• Lead biweekly mentor meetings to ensure students are on track, reporting to the managing director of engagement and student journalism any changes to deadlines.  
• Communicate student progress to local news editors on bi-weekly basis.
• Work with newsroom leadership and the community engagement director to ensure there are ample opportunities for students to contribute to news gathering, engagement and distribution; help students get published and to collaborate with reporters across the LA Local News Initiative newsrooms.
• Contact students for weekly reminders of deadlines, meetings or outside events.  
• Work with the community engagement director to recruit participants for the student journalism programs, and aim for students to produce publishable news stories over the school year
• Ensure student participants are receiving quality mentorship and a positive experience; work with the managing director of engagement and student journalism to coordinate programming and field trips for students
• Connect students with mentors they would work well with, either on a story by story basis or for a long-term mentorship relationship as it makes sense
• Work with community engagement director to develop programming for our alumni council

Schedule

Hours: 20 hours weekly, 6 month, temporary position with the possibility of extending or going full-time. We offer a flexible schedule, but the position is required to be in the office Tuesdays from 2 - 6pm.

• You’re passionate about community building and public service
• You enjoy collaborative work and have strong communication skills
• You’re flexible and resourceful, and can work well in a fast-moving startup environment that may require coming up with creative solutions to problems
• You have experience working with youth and embrace the extra care required
• Bilingual (Spanish) preferred
• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• News experience preferred, but not required

The pay rate will be commensurate with experience and qualifications, ranging from $35 to $40 per hour. Salaries reflect our compensation philosophy of market competitiveness and pay equity. Benefits include paid sick leave, up to 48 hours per year.

Temporary employees will either be provided with a computer or will be provided with a $100 stipend per month for use of their personal computer while working for The LA Local.

Please submit your resume and a few sentences about yourself via email to Kris Kelley at: kris.kelley@localnewsforla.org

We look forward to learning about you!