Reporter, Health, Food and Safety

OVERVIEW

Consumer Reports is an independent, mission-driven nonprofit that has fought for consumers and marketplace safety for 90 years.

Our award-winning journalists have alerted consumers to the dangers of risky foods, explained why the threat of ticks is rising, offered guidance on supplements, and covered our expert evaluations of home lead-testing kits, fish oil pills, and bike helmets that don’t meet federal safety standards. They’ve helped readers navigate the complex world of food safety with in-depth reports on dark chocolate and cinnamon while also covering breaking news on food recalls and product safety, federal policy on food dyes, and commonsense advice on vaccines. 

We are looking for a skilled reporter who has the range to cover a variety of such topics with both short-form and long-form stories. We want someone who will dive into complicated subjects with a mix of curiosity and skepticism, find the right experts and studies, pay attention to every detail, and write quickly and cleanly. This role will offer the opportunity to work on stories that have the potential to change the marketplace and will be a great fit for someone with experience making technical subjects compelling reading. You should also be highly organized and willing to jump on front-of-book service stories in the magazine, quick-turn news stories online, production in our CMS, and other editorial tasks as needed.

The topics you cover will vary, so agility, flexibility, and being deadline-driven are essential to the role. Some experience covering subjects like consumer health, medicine, nutrition, food safety, product safety, and science—and an interest in the subjects on that list that are new to you—will be very helpful. 

You’ll be reporting to the lead health, food, and safety editor while working closely with our investigative reporters, product and food safety scientists, and advocates to help to uncover the threats and challenges consumers face in this constantly changing landscape. 

This is a hybrid position. This position is also not eligible for Sponsorship or relocation assistance.

How You'll Make An Impact

The stories you report on will champion consumers’ interests and change people’s lives.

Specifically, you will:

• Closely follow beats related to some of CR’s top issues including food safety and product safety.
• Write health and food stories for print and online that are a mix of service and news, consistently cutting through hype and misinformation and surfacing the best available evidence.
• Turn testing conducted by CR scientists on our product safety, food safety, and nutrition teams into fully reported stories that include expert input, scientific studies, “real people,” and research into relevant regulations, legislation, and litigation.
• Possibly do social media, earned media, or public appearances related to your stories.

ABOUT YOU

You’ll Be Highly Rated If:

• You have the reporting chops. You have at least two to three years of reporting experience that demonstrates an ability to ask hard questions and dig deep to find answers. 
• You're deadline-driven. You consistently turn around engaging, well-written stories quickly (at least one a week), while balancing competing demands and priorities. 
• You are a sharp writer. Your copy is clean, engaging, and well-organized. You have a knack for translating complex information into compelling stories. 
• You are a quick study. You know how to swiftly bring yourself up to speed on new beats.
• You're a self-starter. You are organized and can work independently as well as collaboratively across multiple platforms and with other writers, editors, and experts from other departments. 
• You thrive in a fast-paced environment where multitasking is the norm. You enjoy the challenge of mastering several subjects simultaneously and can work on multiple projects at once without losing focus or sacrificing attention to detail.
• You’re eager to grow your skills. You welcome feedback on your ideas and your stories, and you tackle revisions graciously.

You'll Be One of Our Top Picks If:

• You’ve gone the extra mile. It’s a plus if you’ve earned your Master’s Degree in journalism.
• You have experience with certain beats. We are particularly interested in candidates who have reported on food safety, chemical safety, product safety, nutrition, and/or medicine.
• You have demonstrated agility. You’ve had to pivot to new beats throughout your career, and you’re comfortable diving into new topics.
• You are insatiably curious. You have a reporter’s thirst for knowledge and the ability to pose questions that will get you the answers you need.
• You’re familiar with digital publishing tools. You have competency in WordPress and Google Docs, with the ability to learn other platforms as needed.
• You appreciate multimedia storytelling. You’re a versatile journalist who can collaborate with designers, video producers, and photo editors.
• You are data-driven. You are adept at using SEO research, analytics, and other market data to guide your work.
• You enjoy collaboration. You’re open to working alongside CR colleagues—editors, fact-checkers, testers, consumer advocates, layout designers, etc.—to create stories that can help consumers and change the marketplace.   
• You are comfortable in front of a microphone or camera. You welcome the opportunity to participate in videos and represent CR in social media, podcast, and press appearances.

FAIR PAY AND A JUST WORKPLACE

At Consumer Reports, we are committed to fair, transparent pay and we strive to provide competitive, market-informed compensation informed by location, as well as the candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. It is expected that most qualified candidates will fall near the middle of the posted salary range. We have three locations: Yonkers, NY, Washington, DC and Colchester, CT. We are registered to do business in and can only hire from the following states and federal district: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Salary ranges

• NY/California: $110,560.34-$112,599.96 annually
• All other CR locations:  $105,032.33 - $106,969.96 annually