KCRW wants your proposals for 'vulnerable populations' project

KCRW has revealed an ambitious reporting project the station will target with its recent 3-year, $1 million investment from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. KCRW will fund a journalist (or team) for a year-long project "developing and producing a vivid, character-driven story that explores Los Angeles’ most vulnerable populations." The position will be full-time and start no later than April 1. Radio experience not required.

We’re seeking a story about the people in our region who are struggling to make it in society. Homelessness, drug addiction, foster care, the criminal justice system, and undocumented immigration are just a few examples of issues that could be explored. The story will tell us something new about what it means to struggle in Southern California today, through intimate, firsthand accounts bolstered by in-depth and well-researched reporting.

The final piece or pieces will reflect a year of full-time reporting and will be presented in innovative ways on air and online, with the potential to create a national discussion. We are interested in hearing ideas from all types of media journalists. No radio production experience required.

The project will adhere to the highest standards of accuracy, production, and fact checking.

To that end, we are interested in developing work that:

Integrates more than one media platform as a means of storytelling (including but not limited to audio, video, photography, or transmedia);

Employs a non-traditional, in-depth and immersive approach to reporting by spending the majority of time in the field;

Addresses an issue we don’t hear about often;

Has a specific voice;

Engages the community in some way;

The focus and format of the story will be shaped largely by the proposal, in consultation with our team of producers and editors assigned to the project.

Proposals should be as brief as possible and as long as necessary…

Full requirements.