Seattle City Hall & Investigative Reporter Openings

WE'RE HIRING: SEATTLE CITY HALL & INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS The Center Square is seeking highly motivated reporters to join our Washington state bureau, including a Seattle City Hall reporter and an investigative journalist to join our Enterprise and Investigative Unit (EIU). The Center Square maintains a five-person bureau in Washington state. Our EIU is a five-person national investigative team that, despite launching just a year ago, has already been a finalist for major national awards, helped change state laws and contributed to the removal of corrupt and incompetent government officials. We're looking for passionate journalists with government reporting experience and a strong interest in politics and public policy. The Center Square covers government from a taxpayers' perspective, not government's perspective. We hold public officials accountable for their actions and decisions and inform readers how those decisions affect them. These roles will work alongside our eastern Washington and state government reporters to provide readers and partners with comprehensive coverage across the state. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SEATTLE CITY HALL REPORTER Reports to: Washington State Editor ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan daily, taxpayer-focused news coverage of Seattle City Hall and King County government for The Center Square and its print affiliates. As a newswire, we welcome other media outlets to republish our reporting.
• Closely monitor mayoral and city council policies, actions and spending affecting taxpayers, job creators, energy consumers, the economy and public safety.
• Supplement written reporting with video, including shooting, editing and discussing reporting on camera.
• Conduct on-the-ground reporting at city hall and county government offices.
• Attend news conferences and ask probing questions.
• Develop sources, conduct interviews, file public records requests and produce timely news coverage.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPECTATIONS

• Excellent writing and research abilities, with proficiency in Associated Press style.
• Willingness to take direction and learn from experienced editors and journalists.
• Reside in the assigned reporting region and meet sources both inside and outside government.
• Look beyond government-issued press releases and reports to determine the real impact of policies on taxpayers and job creators.
• Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, political science or a related field preferred, but not required.
• At least two years of government reporting experience.
• Ability to move quickly on breaking and developing news.
• Familiarity with city and county government, including elected officials and appointed administrators.
• Ability to explain complex issues in clear, concise and approachable language.
• Strong source development and networking skills.
• Experience utilizing video streams and editing video and audio clips for affiliate use.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WASHINGTON INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Enterprise and Investigative Unit (EIU) Reports to: Managing Editor, EIU and West Coast Region ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• File public records requests, obtain data, develop confidential sources and monitor reporting across Washington state to identify investigative opportunities.
• Produce regular investigative stories and collaborate on larger team projects.
• Supplement written reporting with video, including shooting, editing and discussing investigations on camera.
• Analyze records and data, interview sources and public officials, and directly question those responsible for government policies and misconduct when necessary.
• Work closely with EIU editors to ensure investigations meet standards for fairness, completeness and accuracy while avoiding libel and defamation.
• Regularly produce investigations, follow-up reporting and enterprise stories.

This is not a position focused on spending six months producing a single 10,000-word series. We expect regular, high-impact investigations. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPECTATIONS

• Excellent writing and investigative research abilities, with proficiency in Associated Press style.
• Willingness to take direction and learn from experienced editors and journalists.
• Must reside in Washington state, preferably near Seattle or Olympia, and be willing to meet sources in person.
• Focus on consequential reporting with the potential to change laws or policies, initiate criminal or internal investigations, and spark audits or government reviews.
• Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, political science or a related field preferred, but not required.
• At least two years of investigative government reporting experience OR five years of high-impact daily journalism with a proven record of enterprise and investigative reporting.
• Ability to move quickly and identify investigative angles in breaking and developing stories.
• Persistence and professionalism when pursuing difficult questions and holding officials accountable.
• Ability to distill complex issues into clear, accessible reporting.
• Strong understanding of libel and defamation law, journalistic fairness and investigative reporting standards.
• Experience utilizing video streams and editing video and audio clips for affiliate use.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ HOW TO APPLY Interested candidates may apply for either position or both. Please send your resume and writing samples to: Dan McCaleb Executive Editor, The Center Square [email protected] Please specify which position(s) you are applying for. #JournalismJobs #Hiring #InvestigativeJournalism #Seattle #Washington