Santa Cruz Local is hiring: Bilingual News Reporter in Watsonville

Salary & benefits Salary & benefits: $74,800 to $81,000 plus five weeks per year of paid company holiday, paid flexible time off, paid federal holidays, health care reimbursement and retirement benefits. Schedule and location Schedule and location: 40 hours/week, full time position. The weekly schedule is fairly flexible, but is generally 9 a.m. to 5:30/6 p.m. This role is in-person. You’d attend weekly meetings at our Downtown Santa Cruz office and spend most of your reporting time in the Pajaro Valley. Computer work may be done at our office, remotely at home or elsewhere in the field. A bit about us A bit about us: Santa Cruz Local is a nonprofit local news organization that serves residents of Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley. Local journalists founded Santa Cruz Local in 2019 to give residents an unbiased, fair and accurate source of local news and information. In 2023, we launched Noticias Watsonville, Spanish-language audio and video news on WhatsApp and Facebook. In 2025, we launched News for Students on Instagram and through civic events at Cabrillo College. Read our strategic plan. We strive to grow civic engagement through deep, fair and accurate reporting about local government, housing, health, transportation, the environment and other big issues in Santa Cruz County. We lift up voices not normally heard by local government or local media. We want to: Survey residents about topics they want our newsroom to cover. Inform residents with responsive, useful civic news. Connect residents with basic needs through our relevant, timely and accurate information guides. Show residents how to participate in local government and that they can impact decisions. Push leaders on residents’ priorities and hold them accountable. Inspire residents and readers to give back to their communities through volunteering. The challenge The challenge: To grow civic engagement among Latino and Indigenous immigrant families in the Pajaro Valley, we need to produce relevant, useful news and information that responds to residents’ urgent needs. We also need to deliver it in free, accessible ways that people will actually use to find resources or take action. So far, we’ve tested short videos, short texts, short audio messages, a weekly events calendar and profiles of community members as ways to engage Spanish-speaking residents on WhatsApp. The job opportunity The job opportunity: This role would produce original reporting and content to respond to Spanish-speaking residents’ needs. This may involve work on our ICE activity tracker, guides on how to access health care and polls of our WhatsApp community. The most urgent issues we hear in the Pajaro Valley are cost of living, immigration, health, housing, flood recovery, food and other basic needs. Potential formats for your reporting include but are not limited to: 90-second Spanish- or English-language selfie videos for social media. 250-word brief texts in Spanish for WhatsApp. Spanish-language responses to questions on WhatsApp. Short voice memos in Spanish for WhatsApp. Lightly-produced 3-minute podcast episodes. Lightly-produced 3-minute video reports. English-language written briefs for our newsletter or website. Spanish-language written briefs for WhatsApp or our website. “Cafecito hour” live meetups on WhatsApp. Responsibilities Through polls, surveys, interviews, visits, calls, events and other direct personal contact, continually build relationships with Spanish-speaking Pajaro Valley residents and organizations to get the pulse on the issues people care about and what information they need. Manage our Spanish-language WhatsApp community: Send text messages, audio and video stories, run regular polls, send video and voice memos, respond to questions and solicit feedback. Reporting and storytelling Generate story ideas on a regular basis for Spanish-language audiences from community engagement, original reporting and team collaboration. Participate in weekly pitch meetings to present stories and brainstorm topics of interest. Complete assignments by editors. Conduct interviews, seek public records, attend meetings and pursue other forms of reporting and investigation. Produce multimedia and written stories on multiple platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, email newsletter and website. Collaborate with editors and other team members to explore new storytelling formats and methods of delivery and develop story ideas from community engagement. Audience growth and product management Pitch and run experiments to grow our WhatsApp and Facebook audiences and find product-market fit. Conduct user testing interviews to understand how people interact with our WhatsApp community and what they need. Track our learnings and share with team. Grow our audience by building relationships with Pajaro Valley organizations, leaders and residents, listening to what they need, and adapting the product to fit their needs. Attend occasional community events, ask people what they need and let them know how to sign up for Noticias Watsonville. Requirements We strongly prefer candidates with a minimum 2 years’ experience living or working in the Pajaro Valley . We’re open to candidates from elsewhere who have all of the following requirements: Spoken and written fluency in Spanish and English. Minimum 2 years’ experience with journalism or similar fields, such as research, fact-checking, communication, fact-based storytelling and connecting people with information. Understands what makes a useful and relevant news story. Values local journalism and understands journalism ethics and standards. Able to listen and communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds. Open to giving and receiving feedback. A love for continual learning and iteration. Able to travel within Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley. Mileage is reimbursed and we can offer Uber transportation to work-related events if you don’t have a car. Avid news consumer: Everything from radio, podcasts and blogs to newsletters and newspapers. Wants to know what’s happening locally, regionally and nationally. Research, interview and writing skills. Teamwork and communication skills. Age 18 or older. We welcome applicants from a broad range of professional and educational backgrounds. A college degree is not required. How we’ll assess candidates You’re our ideal candidate if you are: A community connector. You have experience connecting people with information and resources they need. You have a deep network in Watsonville and know how to build relationships with organizations and people. You’re a great listener and you’re responsive. A multimedia bilingual Spanish / English communicator. You’re comfortable filming short selfie videos, writing and responding to text messages on WhatsApp, recording voice memos and writing emails. You can craft messages that are accurate, on brand, concise and compelling. Committed to the Pajaro Valley. You want to press elected officials to respond to residents’ concerns. You know how to ask hard questions and dig through records to find answers. You’re excited about increasing voter turnout in Watsonville. Our ideal candidate has these skills: Reporting: You can find your way around government documents, city council agendas and other public records. You know how to fact check and cite sources. You can conduct a wide range of interview types, from delicate trauma-informed conversations to interrogations of elected officials. Listening: You’re curious to hear what people need, rather than assume you know. You listen to people’s stories with empathy, respect and openness. You’re aware of your own biases. You can strike up conversations with strangers and ask open-ended questions to understand their priorities and concerns. Experiment-minded: You can design and run structured tests of new ways to grow our audience. You can look at our audience metrics and gauge an experiment’s success. Collaboration: You’re not a “follower.” You can think critically about a situation, offer ideas and feedback, compromise and work with other team members on large projects. You can also work independently with good time management and troubleshooting skills. You’re a trained journalist who cares deeply about Pajaro Valley residents and wants to share useful, relevant news and information that people will actually use. You’re excited to try new formats and want to be of deep service to immigrant communities. You’re a digital storyteller with experience growing audiences on social media in Watsonville. You have experience building community and relationships toward an issue, cause or program in the Pajaro Valley. You want to connect people with useful news and accurate information. Application and hiring process Here is our online application. The deadline to apply is 12 p.m. PT Wednesday, April 1. We plan to invite top candidates for a Zoom interview the week of April 13. If you’re invited for an interview, we’ll pay you $50 for your time and participation. We plan to make hiring decisions by the end of April. If you’re not selected for the position, we’ll let you know. This position starts in May. #J-18808-Ljbffr