Omaha is changing. Nebraska doesn’t look the same as it did 20 years ago, and after another few decades it’s only going to be home to a more diverse group of workers, business owners, families, students, elected officials and, above all, people.
In particular, Latino Nebraskans are projected to represent up to a quarter of the state’s population by 2050, according to a 2013 University of Nebraska at Omaha study. That’s up from just 5.5% in 2000 and about 11.4% today.
With that comes so many stories to tell.
In the summer of 2020, The Omaha Reader and El Perico will receive a yearlong fellow through a grant from “Report for America,” an organization that places emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
The focus will be to expand our local coverage of Latino issues. While we’ve long prioritized coverage of everything from immigration to quinceañeras, there’s still so many human stories going untold.
This reporter would develop ideas for deeply reported, issue-based stories that tell a more complete narrative about one of Nebraska’s most economically, politically and culturally influential groups of people. They’ll be an invaluable asset to the ever-growing editorial team–pitching stories, editing copy and pushing our papers to be as functional a resource for the community as they can be.
And just as important as getting stories in The Reader and El Perico, it’s imperative we share these stories through local media collaborations.
Report for America will pay half our journalist’s salary. We cover the remainder along with local donors. If you’re interested in helping cover those costs or investing in this kind of local journalism, please consider becoming a member.
Your donations not only support this work, but a 26-year commitment to tell stories about Omaha’s under-served communities that won’t get covered anywhere else.
If you’d like to apply for this position, fill out an application through Report for America’s website. Our ideal applicant has experience with multimedia reporting. Fluency in Spanish is encouraged, as is familiarity with data reporting.
Report for America, is a part of the The GroundTruth Project. The Omaha Reader and El Perico were one of 64 local news organizations selected through a national competition. We’ll receive one of the more than 300 journalists traveling across the country to report on under-covered issues. Learn more about the project at reportforamerica.org.