Job Description

Iowa Public Radio is an award-winning public media organization serving people throughout the state. We have strong relationships with NPR and regional collaborations like Harvest Public Media and the Midwest Newsroom. We serve our local communities while elevating our reporting for national audiences. And every four years, we have a front row seat for the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.

We’re looking for a journalist with great news judgement, a strong sense of curiosity, and a knack for enterprise reporting to be our next northeast Iowa reporter. You’ll cover an area that includes Waterloo – the region’s largest city and one of Iowa’s most racially-diverse, Cedar Falls – home to the University of Northern Iowa, and smaller cities and rural communities in northeast Iowa.

You’ll join a great team of reporters in three other cities, covering state government, agriculture, health, politics and more.

Our reporters have been selected for political, state government and health reporting partnerships with NPR in recent years, and we’re part of NPR’s Midwest Newsroom regional collaboration, which focuses on enterprise and investigative reporting.

You’ll get a chance to work with the Midwest Newsroom team, bringing original reporting to a regional audience. And we’ll support you in building relationships with NPR editors and landing stories on the network, from Morning Edition to Here & Now to Up First.

The Cedar Falls-Waterloo metro offers lots of opportunities for dining, brew pubs, live music, performing arts and recreation. The Cedar River flows past the cities, and is lined with state and county parks. If you like cycling, the area has a great system of trails, including one that will take you to Cedar Rapids, nearly 70 miles away.

If you’re passionate about impactful journalism, ethics and diversity, are adept at handling multiple projects at a time, and want to be part of a great and supportive team, we’d love to hear from you.

We know there are great candidates who might not exactly fit into what we’ve described here or who have important skills we haven’t listed. If that sounds like you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS :

• One year of experience in a professional journalism environment, including internships;
• Experience working in multimedia platforms, including photographs and web platforms; and
• Experience operating or a desire to learn to operate broadcast equipment including audio boards, digital editing systems (e.g. Adobe Audition), field recording units, and other production equipment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS :

• One-year full-time experience as a public radio reporter, anchor, producer, or host; and
• Firm foundation in journalism ethics, news gathering, and reporting techniques.

APPLICATION PROCESS :

For full consideration, applications must include the following:

• A detailed resume .
• A cover letter carefully detailing how your experience compares to the job duties, qualifications, and functions for this position at this organization. The narrative should not exceed two pages.
• Sample(s) of your work including:
  • Scripts for both a spot news and a news-oriented feature story.
  • Demo containing one newscast-length story (45-60 seconds), and one feature-length report (3:00-5:00) that you have edited and produced. Please upload the demo to Soundcloud or another hosting site and send us the links.
  • Online content you have produced (please send links). Online content can be a web build-out of a radio story or news content that was designed to be web-only. Please do not send stories you have produced with the help of a national network.
• Names and contact information, including email addresses, for three work references , including at least one supervisory reference.

Employment at Iowa Public Radio is dependent upon successful completion of a criminal background check including a driving record review and professional reference checks.

IPR will accept applications through 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2026 .

OUR VALUES :

• Integrity : We maintain the highest standards of journalism, providing trustworthy and relevant content with meaningful context.
• Curiosity : We serve an inquisitive audience by asking questions, seeking knowledge, and exploring new ideas.
• Belonging : We strive to reflect Iowa’s cultural complexity by offering a supportive, equitable space for individuals and communities to tell the stories unique to their lived experiences.
• Respect : We create a culture of respect for our audience, sources, and staff.
• Innovation : We support creativity and embrace new ways of serving our audience.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY :

Iowa Public Radio is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin or sex is prohibited. If you believe you have been a victim of discrimination, please notify the appropriate local, state or federal agency.

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