Rural Health Correspondents

LOCATION: South Dakota, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming

STATUS:  Full-time

PROGRAM AREA: Kaiser Health News

About the Job:

KFF, the nonprofit health policy analysis, polling, and journalism organization, is seeking several correspondents to cover rural health for Kaiser Health News (KHN), its editorially independent newsroom distributing in-depth coverage of health and health policy issues across the country. KHN has a vibrant and ambitious staff based in Washington, D.C., California, Missouri, Colorado, Montana, and Georgia — and is now expanding into rural America.

We are seeking reporters in South Dakota and Nevada — also possibly Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, or Wyoming — with a strong interest in rural America who can expose the problems with, and possible solutions to, one of the most pressing concerns to rural Americans: their health care. We are looking for reporters who can write strong stories that are grounded in rural areas, can be amplified for a national audience, but also ring true to those who live in rural communities. We want scoops; we want analyses; we want lively people-centric features. Our focus is on accountability and edge and how our health system (or lack thereof) plays out on the lives of Americans. We want these correspondents to help infuse our coverage with rapid-fire reporting and thoughtful writing on the big health policy issues affecting rural America in all its diversity.

We are hoping to find self-starters who are fountains of ideas and have the skills to turn their bulletproof reporting into compelling reads. We’d like you to have four or more years of reporting experience (preferably with some experience covering health issues). Knowing how to tell stories with data is a plus. We prefer those who have lived in rural communities at some point.

We want journalists who want to be part of an ambitious and fast-growing newsroom and can collaborate and contribute to daily digital and multimedia stories, big projects, investigations, and podcasts.

Tell us why you want to work with us and why no one else could do this job better than you. We’re excited to hear from you.

We are willing to pay to relocate you, though we’d prefer people who already have ties and sources in the Upper Midwest or Nevada. We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications, and we have enviable health insurance and retirement benefits.

More about KHN and KFF:

KHN is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. With a staff of more than 60 reporters, editors, web producers, and photographers/videographers in Washington, D.C., California, Missouri, Colorado, Montana, and Georgia, plus dozens more freelance journalists, animators, web developers, photographers, and videographers around the nation, KHN is committed to in-depth reporting on health policy news. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF. KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. KFF serves as a nonpartisan source of facts, information, and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the public. It has no connection with Kaiser Permanente.

KHN provides this coverage on khn.org as well as in partnership with other news organizations, including NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, NBC, and a host of other media outlets. All material is provided free of charge. In addition to publishing in-depth articles on new developments in the health care system and on national and local health care initiatives and debates, KHN produces daily briefings summarizing news coverage of health policy. For more than a decade, these reports have provided readers with daily updates on how the media are covering U.S. health care policy.

How to Apply:

If this opportunity interests you and you have the requisite experience and qualifications, please email your resume, clips, and a cover letter explaining how your background matches the job requirements and which state is the best fit for you to [email protected] Please submit these documents as separate attachments, labeled as “Last Name_First Name_Document Title,” and include “Rural Health Correspondent” in the subject line of your email.

KFF has an efficient applicant review process and will contact candidates who have applied for this position and whose qualifications most closely fit the criteria for the job. No phone inquiries, please.

It is the policy of KFF to actively promote a diverse and inclusive workplace in every respect, and to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees in every phase of employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender-identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, political affiliation, arrest or conviction records, or other categories protected under the law.