Overview
Climate Reporter Jobs in Sacramento, USA at CalMatters
Position: CalMatters Climate Reporter
Cal Matters and Grist seek a reporter to cover the impacts of climate change in California’s Central Valley, a vibrant and diverse community that serves as the nation’s bread basket while sitting at the center of important climate issues.
In this role, you’ll be based at Cal Matters, a statewide nonprofit newsroom that wins national awards for investigative and in-depth journalism, and work directly with Grist, the nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change. Through Cal Matters and Grist, your work will reach statewide and national audiences.
You’ll have the opportunity to tell the untold stories of how climate impacts this critical region and whether the state’s policies – climate-related; agriculture-related; water, air, and energy-related – improve outcomes for the people and communities most affected.
If you’re the right person for this role, you’ll also be interested in approaching the beat from a solutions lens:
How are people working to address the problems caused by climate change? Can those solutions be scaled up to statewide or national levels? What are the drawbacks? And you’ll be mindful of the equity issues that are often at the root of human-based climate stories.
Beat Pillars
- Exploring the impacts of a changing climate, including, but not limited to:
- Climate impacts on agriculture, including changing seasonal variations, extreme weather, and pest infestations
- Increasing impact of communicable diseases like valley fever
- The effect of drought on Central Valley communities
- Extreme heat and its impact on vulnerable populations, including outdoor workers and youth
- Affordability of energy and health costs
- Impact of public policy at the local and state level on climate and environment, including, but not limited to:
- USDA or state-level climate policies’ impact on agricultural communities and businesses
- Enforcement of state climate-related laws by the California Environmental Protection Agency
- Extreme weather preparedness funding, policies, and plans
- Energy policy (fossil fuels vs. renewables vs. emerging technology)
- Financial policies around energy and climate (tax breaks for water- or energy-hogging data centers, for example, or boosting fossil fuels, eradicating tax credits for renewable energy, etc)
- Environmental impact of data centers, fracking, and power plants
- The ways Californians are taking action outside of government in response to climate change, including, but not limited to:
- Community organizing around specific climate issues (for example, extreme heat)
- Businesses that are leading community or individual action
- Emerging technologies being developed in the state
What You’ll Do
- This job will require you to tie policies to the ways they directly impact people in the Central Valley and be able to tell these stories on multiple platforms. At the same time, you’ll propose, conceive and execute enterprise stories that go beneath the surface. We expect you’ll write with depth and nuance about complex climate issues that have a real impact on the Central Valley.
Here are the core duties:
- Write with depth and nuance about complex environmental and climate issues that have real impact in the Central Valley
- Propose, conceive, and execute in-depth, thought-provoking stories, typically at least two to four stories per month
- Work with partner organizations to create or adapting content to run in local newspapers and on Grist.org
- Tell stories on multiple platforms, including radio, television, in-person events and social media
- Perform other duties as assigned
We’re Looking For
- Bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Three or more years of reporting experience.
- Demonstrated news judgment, ethics, and creative approaches to storytelling.
- Demonstrated ability to be able to tell a deeply reported, well-written story that includes data and narrative elements.
- Strong organizational skills and ability to juggle multiple tasks and deadlines.
- Enthusiasm about using journalism engagement practices to serve audiences.
- Demonstrated record of collaboration with colleagues from various perspectives and experiences on team projects, and a desire to be part…
Title: Climate Reporter
Company: CalMatters
Location: Sacramento, USA
Category:
