We are currently hiring for the following positions at Boulder Reporting Lab. If you’re a freelancer who wants to write for us, please also reach out.

BRL Community Reporting Fellow (summer 2024 internship)

Boulder Reporting Lab is inviting applications for our summer 2024 BRL Community Reporting Fellow. This internship opportunity in Boulder, Colorado, is a unique chance to work in an innovative, award-winning nonprofit local newsroom that has quickly become an influential news source and is part of a movement of startups building the future of local news with their communities. Interns work under the guidance of experienced staff and are considered integral members of our team.

Interns gain up-close access to our editorial process and a deeper understanding of local politics and community storytelling. They are expected to actively pursue their own stories, pitch ideas to our editorial team, and learn to gather, analyze and report facts in a fair and accurate manner.

Fellows contribute to reporting and writing stories about local government and assist with our morning newsletter, among other responsibilities. These include conducting interviews and supporting the publishing and promotion of stories online. Depending on the fellow’s previous reporting experience, there may be opportunities to pitch and work on investigative stories.

This grant-funded internship, supported by the Colorado Media Project, is designed to train the next generation of journalists, bring diverse voices into our Boulder newsroom and community, and help build a more inclusive local news ecosystem in Colorado that reflects the communities we serve. It is a roughly 10-week or so program aimed at emerging university journalists from Boulder County’s BIPOC communities or those interested in entering the Colorado journalism job market. Recent university graduates seeking professional experience are also encouraged to apply. The internship provides a stipend.

How to Apply

Interested in applying for our BRL Community Reporting Fellowship for summer 2024? Please send your resume and a cover letter to Stacy Feldman at stacy@boulderreportinglab.org (publisher). In your cover letter, describe your strengths as a candidate and explain how an internship at BRL will help you grow. We are reviewing applications as we receive them and aim to make a hiring decision by the end of May.

More About Boulder Reporting Lab

BRL is a two-year-old nonprofit, non-partisan, independent local news organization in Boulder, Colorado. Our mission is to deliver high-quality, local-first reporting that helps people make sense of issues and events happening around them and build community. We’re the only independent, digital, not-for-profit newsroom in our city and county. We believe in information equality, and because of that, our stories are free for all to read. We have already been recognized with nearly 30 local and national journalism honors for our work.

Our journalism is data-driven, solutions-focused, and service-oriented, and we’re committed to covering the issues of greatest community interest and concern. BRL’s leadership team brings years of experience in nonprofit news and local journalism. Its founder previously co-founded a national news startup that won several of journalism’s most prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. We have built a strong foundation of readers and supporters since our November 2021 launch, and will be looking to grow exponentially over the next several years.

General Assignment Reporter/Newsletter Writer

Boulder Reporting Lab (BRL) is seeking a full-time Reporter and Newsletter Writer to ramp up our daily news coverage in the City of Boulder and surrounding communities and help write our flagship newsletter BRL Today. 

The ideal candidate is a versatile journalist who is curious, driven and excited to be part of an innovative nonprofit local newsroom that has quickly emerged as an influential news source. Candidates should have experience doing original reporting under deadline pressure. You should be able to distill community news and information in a conversational voice for our newsletter. We’re looking for a motivated self-starter who can thrive in a collaborative startup environment that values risk-taking and creativity. 

This Boulder-based role is integral for our small, award-winning civic newsroom, founded in late 2021 to address the declining number of journalists covering our city and county. BRL’s mission is to help residents make sense of issues and events happening around them with trustworthy, timely and contextual reporting.

This new hire will support the expansion of our breaking and daily reporting on local governments, schools, community safety and more. Our journalism is distributed through our morning newsletter, and this role will contribute to developing it into a daily essential news product.

The ideal candidate should have an interest in Boulder and an understanding of the political, policy, environmental and cultural issues in our county. A passion for local journalism and belief in its power to transform communities is a must.

Job Description

There is no single ideal candidate for this role. Our small team has walked unique paths and brings a diverse set of skills, and we imagine you will bring your own distinctive strengths. We see this as an entry-level, or early-career, position. You likely have 1-5 years of experience in a newsroom role, with a preference for some of that time in local news. Internship experience is also considered suitable.

Importantly, we’re looking for someone who is community-oriented, can thrive in a creative startup culture, and brings insatiable curiosity, grit and innovative ideas. We are committed to representing the voices of diverse communities in Boulder County, and we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. Given our community mission, this position will be located in Boulder. We do not have a physical newsroom but our team works closely together. Being able to work independently and communicate effectively is critical. 

Boulder Reporting Lab is a proud member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers and of the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab).  This position is salaried and full-time. The starting salary is around $50,000, with opportunity for growth.

Requirements

  • A passion for local news – and hand in hand with that is a love for local politics, policy and other things that make a community tick.
  • A love for, or at least a profound interest in, Boulder. 
  • An ability to excel in a startup environment, juggling different tasks, taking risks and creatively tackling challenges while seizing new opportunities.
  • A portfolio of articles you have written that demonstrate an ability to tell meaningful stories and explain issues clearly and concisely. 
  • Versatility for reporting and writing across formats — from daily news stories and features to service-oriented pieces, short news briefs, curated newsletter summaries and social media posts. 
  • Facility with reporting and writing your own stories on tight deadlines. 
  • Ability to generate ideas and write quickly and accurately about a range of topics – from school board meetings and transportation policy to public safety and breaking climate disasters – as well as know-how for identifying key sources to contact. 
  • An interest in solutions journalism and in challenging entrenched narratives and the negativity bias in news. 
  • A commitment to building an inclusive, thoughtful, enjoyable and healthy work environment.

We’d be really excited if you also have

  • Daily newsroom experience.
  • Spanish proficiency.
  • Proficiency with Wordpress and Mailchimp.
  • Knack for aesthetic design and photography. 
  • An understanding of how to obtain and use public records (or interest in learning).
  • Data reporting chops (or interest in learning). 

What your day-to-day (or week-to-week) work might look like

  • Report and write an average of 2-4 stories and/or news briefs a week on a variety of local topics.
  • Assist in photography with your stories. 
  • Co-write and report our a.m. newsletter, BRL Today, in our website’s content management system
  • Help publish content across our social media channels and build our presence on them.
  • Follow state and local (City of Boulder and Boulder County) public affairs, including tuning into weekly city council meetings. 
  • Work with colleagues to brainstorm about membership and fundraising campaigns as needed, as well as occasional events. 

How to Apply 

If you have some combination of the experience and skills we listed, please apply. We understand that no single candidate will have every qualification listed. 

To apply, send your resume, a cover letter, 2-3 references and your best clips to Stacy Feldman at stacy@boulderreportinglab.org (publisher). In your cover letter, tell us about yourself and your past work, why you’re interested in this particular role in this particular newsroom, and if there’s anything about your personal or professional experiences that would bring a valuable perspective to this role and to BRL. The interview process will include a paid reporting/writing test.

The current deadline to submit an application is April 5, 2024.

More About Boulder Reporting Lab

BRL is a two-year-old nonprofit, non-partisan, independent local news organization in Boulder, Colorado. Our mission is to deliver high-quality, local-first reporting that helps people make sense of issues and events happening around them and build community. We’re the only independent, digital, not-for-profit newsroom in our city and county. We believe in information equality, and because of that, our stories are free for all to read.

Our journalism is data-driven, solutions-focused and service-oriented, and we’re committed to covering the issues of greatest community interest and concern. BRL’s leadership team brings years of experience in nonprofit news and local journalism. Its founder previously co-founded a national news startup that won several of journalism’s most prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. We have built a strong foundation of readers and supporters since our November 2021 launch, with seed funding, and are aiming to grow exponentially over the next several years.