Beat Reporter(s)
- Posted
- 2 days ago
- Employment type
- Full Time
- Location
- Hybrid
- Closing date
About this organization
LA Public Press seeks experienced reporters. These are positions for people who are deeply rooted in Los Angeles County, are familiar with the regionâs complexities of culture and government, and are experienced journalists eager to pursue ambitious, regional, and issue-based reporting serving the residents of Los Angeles County.
LA Public Press is a digital-native nonprofit newsroom based in Los Angeles County. It produces issue-based original journalism in service of a healthier and more humane Los Angeles. Its audience-oriented journalism is distributed through a variety of digital and non-digital publishing
platforms. The publication boasts a rapidly growing audience of LA County residents, can demonstrate local journalistic impact, and is competitive in Los Angelesâ local news ecosystem.
Under the direction of the publicationâs editors, staff reporters are the foundation of LA Public Pressâ regular editorial operations. Original work produced by our reporters reaches hundreds of thousands of LA County residents every month through our digital publishing channels, including web, email, and social media, @LAPublicPress. Reliable output of timely, unique, and defensible news copy is the foundation of this newsroomâs many journalistic products.
We are looking for reporters prepared to develop beats around LA Countyâs public issues. Beat reporters will depend on their knowledge to quickly report complex stories that add analysis to
the news cycle. We expect our reporters to develop deep community, expert, and government sources. We are prioritizing experience and interest covering the housing economy, immigration, transportation and infrastructure, policing, and the justice system.
About this job
â LA Public Press is a hybrid work environment. We will continue to accommodate remote work within Los Angeles County with some in-person work once the company moves into a Wilshire Center office space in spring 2025.
â The salary range for this position is $80,000 - $100,000 annually.
â 100% company-covered health insurance (HMO and PPO), a 4% retirement match, FSA and DCFSA options. Three/four months paid leave for non-birthing/birthing parents.
â 12 days paid sick leave.
â Three-weeks paid vacation time at onset, with guaranteed increases in subsequent years of employment. 13 paid holidays. LA Public Press also observes a two-week end-
of-year office close period.
â LA Public Press is an equal-opportunity employer, and encourages people of all identity and ability characteristics to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be provided as required.
Roles & responsibilities
⢠Youâll be responsible for developing your assigned beat. That means identifying themes, trends and key players needed to develop specialized knowledge.
⢠Youâll be expected to pitch, report, and produce on deadline at least five news stories per month for publication. This may include daily, âday-twoâ reporting that adds depth to commodity news-cycle reporting, and original enterprise reporting.
⢠Collect photographs and, as needed, other visual assets like video to aid in presentation of reported findings across all of LA Public Pressâ publishing platforms.
⢠Regularly cultivate and develop sources. Consistently expand beat knowledge.
⢠Develop a unique âreporting voiceâ that helps readers understand the deeper context of how Los Angeles works, and elevates pathways to participation in civic issues.
⢠Assist in breaking and emergency news reporting as required.
⢠As needed, appear in other media to discuss reported findings.
Qualifications
â5+ years working as a news reporter, preferably in LA County. You must have a detailed understanding of Los Angelesâ socio-cultural landscape.
â You have strong writing, pitching, and reporting skill. You can demonstrate how youâve reliably produced timely news thatâs additive to a news ecosystem.
â You can use interviews, public documents and other records, public meetings, online tools, and social media to gather information, report and tell stories.
â You bring some technical and investigative reporting skill, like CPRA and data analysis.
â Ideally you are proficient in a language other than English thatâs spoken widely in Greater Los Angeles.
â You can show examples of narrative storytelling highlighting individual human characters among the broader cultural and political landscape of Los Angeles County.
â You can consistently meet tight deadlines, and assertively seek information from reluctant public agencies, offices, and officials.
To apply
Submitted as email PDF attachments:
1. A short cover letter that introduces yourself, provides a couple links to some of best stories youâve written. Share what beat you would like to develop for LA Public Press, and how you would start.
2. A resume.
Send to Publisher Matt Tinoco at mtinoco@lapublicpress.org, subject line: âBeat Reporter applicationâ by 3/16/2025, end of day Sunday.
What to expect: These are crucial hires that will shape direction of LA Public Press. Candidates should expect a rigorous hiring process, including multiple interviews, and a writing test. We will compensate candidates for their time spent performing the writing test.