Neighborhood reporter program

Ready for an experience that will reward and challenge you in exciting new ways? Want to get more involved in writing, or learn more about how your neighborhood works?

You've come to the right place. The Daily News is always looking for reporters from every neighborhood in Chicago. As a Daily News volunteer neighborhood reporter, you'll cover development, politics, crime, community organizations, local arts, and everything in between.

Our dozens of volunteers come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some are taking their first steps toward involvement with writing. Others have dabbled in fiction, or wrote for their high school newspapers, and are interested in broadening their skills and seeing their work published.

Daily News reporters work with one of our experienced editors to develop their reporting, writing, and photography skills. We also host free monthly journalism workshops on topics like interviewing, ethics and basic newswriting.

With your indispensable help, we hope to reinvigorate public interest journalism in Chicago, provide a public forum for issues important to every community in the city, and encourage dialogue both within those communities and between them.

Generally we are looking for people who commit to spending at least a year as a Daily News volunteer, and have time to write at least one article per month. Our volunteers usually spend three to five hours a month working on Daily News journalism projects.

The first step toward getting started is filling out an application. After we review it, you'll attend a short orientation program so that you can meet our editors, learn some of the basics about reporting, and begin work on your first story.

We hold monthly volunteer orientations at our offices in Andersonville, and in neighborhoods around the city.

If you have questions about the program, or are ready to get started, contact our community organizer, Frank Edwards (773.362.5002, ext. 15, or frank [at] chitowndailynews [dot] org). He'll get you an application and answer questions you may have about the program.

Meanwhile, you can check out some tips on beginning your adventure as a Daily News neighborhood reporter.