Jonathan Aguilar/Borderless MagazineThe Report for America corps member will cover the intersection of immigration and the environment.
Borderless Magazine will add a full-time Spanish-speaking reporter to cover environmental racism experienced by immigrant communities in 2024.
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Thanks to support from Report for America (RFA), the reporter will start this summer as part of a program dedicated to placing emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on uncovered communities and issues. RFA corps members are recent graduates or typically have about three years of journalism experience. Those interested in the position can apply here through Jan. 31.
“We are thrilled to be selected as a host newsroom by Report for America,” said Borderless Executive Director Nissa Rhee. “A new reporter will allow our team to tell more comprehensive stories about our immigrant communities in Chicago and nearby suburbs.”
The RFA corps member will build on Borderless Magazine’s environmental coverage in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Borderless has recently covered the impact of severe summer floods in Cicero and decades-long radiation cleanup efforts in West Chicago.
Launched in 2017, Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit media organization that supports training emerging journalists. Last month, Borderless was among 50 news outlets selected as host newsroom partners. Report for America will cover half of the RFA corps members’ salaries, and Borderless will fundraise to support the remainder of the reporters’ compensation.
“We have placed a bet on these newsrooms, that with our help they will become beacons of the whole industry,” said Kim Kleman, executive director of Report for America. “They know the coverage they need to better serve their communities. With our help recruiting talented early-career journalists, paying part of their salary, and working with newsrooms to become more sustainable, we expect exciting results.”
Borderless’ new RFA reporter will build on the news outlet’s award-winning local coverage of immigration and immigrant communities. Last year, Borderless Magazine’s After the Bus collaboration with Block Club Chicago was awarded Best Feature Story at the Chicago Review of Books Awards. The outlet also won the Online Journalism Award’s Gather Award in Community Journalism in 2022.
If you have any questions about the position, including how to support this position, please get in touch with Editorial Director Mauricio Peña at Mauricio@borderlessmag.org.
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