Latino Communities and Immigration Reporter

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Press Democrat – the voice of California’s Sonoma and Napa counties, and the North Bay – seeks a curious, hard-charging reporter who will write for – and grow – our base of Latino readers, both at The PD and La Prensa Sonoma, our Spanish-language sibling publication. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of writing clearly, quickly and concisely, as well as experience writing longer enterprise stories on a variety of subjects – including immigration and education policy – and feature stories. All these stories will be distributed in both English and Spanish.

The populations of our core coverage areas, Napa and Sonoma counties, are 35% and 29% Latino, respectively, with many of those residents serving as the backbone of the region’s wine and tourism industries. Our newsroom has only just begun to scratch the surface of how changing federal immigration policies will impact our region’s economy, not to mention education, health care and housing policy, so the ideal candidate will work alongside our La Prensa Sonoma editor to provide us with a roadmap.

The successful candidate also will delve deeper into our region’s Latino enclaves, including the Roseland neighborhood in Santa Rosa, Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma Valley and the Laurel Street-area neighborhood in Napa, to tell the stories of how people there lift each other up. Our community reporting also will go a step beyond this, exploring income and educational data to see if decisions made by politicians and policymakers are moving these communities forward, stagnating them or pushing them back.

On a given shift, this reporter might write a feature about a local business in a Latino community, profile a nonprofit that’s educating immigrants about their rights if approached by law enforcement, or tell readers how immigration policies at the federal level might impact them.

Key responsibilities

The ideal journalist for this role will . . .

• Be a “go anywhere, do anything” reporter who can churn out copy quickly. This includes posting a paragraph or two in breaking-news situations and then updating stories over time. It also includes the ability to localize stories on national immigration policy, whether that’s gathering community reaction or determining the impact of a federal decision on local readers

• Be a team player who takes direction well and works collaboratively with editors, reporters, visual journalists and The Press Democrat audience team

• Cover community events with an eye toward building a deep bench of sources that enable she/he/they to tell stories that other news organizations can’t

• Have knowledge of social media and multimedia storytelling, including the ability to provide photos and video if on assignment without a visual journalist

• Write stories of varying lengths, including “alternative story formats” that answer readers’ questions and provide quicker takes on sometimes complicated topics

• Use newsroom analytics to assess topics that are audience-centered, and then writing stories based on those topics

• Promote their stories from their own social media feeds, as well as the stories of their colleagues

• Make every effort to tell all sides of the story – and report in a manner that keeps professionalism, diversity, equity and inclusion top of mind

• Fluency in Spanish and English. The ability to write in Spanish is strongly preferred but not required

• College degree in journalism or an applicable field

• At least four years’ experience as a reporter or editor at a daily newspaper, magazine or web publication. Experience as an intern or fellow counts towards those four years.

• Ability to write with clarity and authority in a fast-paced environment

• Proficiency in AP style

• Ability to use one’s automobile to cover assignments, valid driver’s license, etc.

• Residency within the Greater North Bay, preferably Sonoma County. Generally speaking, we require employees to be in the office three days a week, with exceptions for journalists whose primary duties are in the field

Salary & Benefits

A portion of the salary for this position is being funded by the nonprofit Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund, which focuses on equity and innovation in education, health and social services, and community transformation. The successful candidate will be a member of The Press Democrat Guild and will be covered under the terms of its union contract, including salary, vacation and benefits. In accordance with California law, Sonoma Media Investments is required to include a reasonable estimate for the compensation of this role. The reasonable estimate is between $61,000 and $72,000, depending on years of experience.

To apply submit a cover letter, resume and links to – or PDFs of – four to six samples of your work, both in English and, if available, Spanish. This not only can be conventional stories, but photos, videos and other pieces of journalism. Show us your range of reporting.

About Sonoma Media Investments, The Press Democrat & La Prensa Sonoma

Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and a George Polk Award, The Press Democrat is the flagship of Sonoma Media Investments, a locally owned and debt-free media company with more than 70 journalists across seven publications. Our main office is in Santa Rosa, California, an hour north of San Francisco, where vineyards give way to redwood forests and the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, but our coverage area extends throughout the North Bay, including Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties.

La Prensa Sonoma is the dominant Spanish-language news source serving Sonoma County and the Greater North Bay. The publication operates 24/7 online at laprensasonoma.com, and a print edition is distributed free each month.

Sonoma Media Investments values the contribution of our employees and offers a competitive compensation plan. We also offer an array of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401K, and Paid Time Off. Any job offer is conditional upon satisfactorily completing a pre-employment background investigation.

Sonoma Media Investments is an Equal Opportunity Employer

SMI Diversity & Inclusion Statement

The primary duty of a media company is to seek out and tell the truth through its journalism. At the same time, we must maintain a company culture that is inclusive and free of discrimination of any kind. We at Sonoma Media Investments acknowledge the difficult truth that over the course of our long history, we have not always been consistent or effective in fulfilling another duty, to protect and defend those who are trivialized, disregarded, sidelined or treated unfairly in our community, and within our own company. We at SMI are committed to creating and maintaining a company culture that is actively antiracist and scrupulously inclusive within our company’s work environment, and in how we report on and engage with the community we serve, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, national origin, faith, age, ability or size. We pledge to promote equality and humane treatment of others, and to oppose prejudice, indifference, sexism, intolerance and hate. This we will do through our hiring, promotion and retention practices, through our advertising programs and customer service, and through our news coverage and community engagement.