How well does local news serve you and your community? What information sources do you trust, and why? What do you wish people understood about your life and your community?

We want to know.

The Wichita Beacon wants to learn how people in Wichita get the news and information they need. We’re hiring Community Representatives to help us as members of our Community Engagement Bureau, a new initiative to design a creative way to deliver news to underserved communities. This is a paid opportunity.

If you’re interested, please fill out this form or email Kristen Powell at kristen@thebeacon.media. 

Who we’re looking for

• Wichita residents with deep ties to the local community.
• Good listeners who are respectful, caring and curious.
• English fluency; proficiency in other languages a plus.
• Experience with neighborhood community building and/or community organizing a plus.
• We’re especially interested in people who are networked with Black/African-American, Latinx/Spanish-speaking, Indigenous/Native American, Asian and immigrant communities.
• We’re also interested in people whose viewpoint or experience may be underrepresented in news coverage. This may include, for example: race and ethnicity, political beliefs, sexual orientation or gender identity, age, geographic area of Wichita, disability and accessibility, religion, workforce or housing status.

What you’ll do

• Earn $20 per hour. Average commitment of five hours per month or less.
• Reach out to your community in whatever way is best for them — in person, phone call, text message, email, social media.
• Take notes and share what you learn with our team and at community events.
• Make introductions, attend community events, share surveys and recruit people to participate in focus groups.
• Share ideas and feedback about who we need to hear from and what we should ask.
• Work can be done remotely while observing social distancing or on the ground.
• Learn more about storytelling and information sharing.
• Get paid to enhance your skills in civic engagement, community organizing, journalism and more.
• Make a difference in Wichita by helping design equitable news and information.