Investigative reporter (washington state) - the center square

The Center Square has partnered with Big Fish on this search. For questions or referrals, please contact Angel Fimbres-Barcelo at angel@recruitbigfish.com. Big Fish is a boutique recruiting firm specializing in public policy talent, working with nonprofits, trade associations, and corporations to recruit mission-forward talent. To learn more about Big Fish, please visit recruitbigfish.com.

Position Title: Investigative Reporter (Washington state)

Employment Status: Full-time

Salary range: $80,000 – $90,000

Position Overview

The Center Square is seeking highly motivated investigative reporters to join our Washington state bureau and Enterprise and Investigative Unit (EIU). The Center Square has a five-person bureau in the state. The EIU is a five-person national investigative team, which, despite only starting a year ago, has already been a finalist for major national awards, changed state laws and removed corrupt and incompetent government officials. We're looking for passionate journalists who have government reporting experience, and a strong interest and understanding of politics and public policy. The Center Square covers government from a taxpayers’ perspective, not from government’s perspective. We hold government officials accountable for their actions and decisions and inform our readers how those decisions affect them.

Essential responsibilities for the Washington EIU Reporter:

• File records requests, obtain data, make confidential sources and regularly read the journalism around the state to find weekly investigative pieces and work on team projects.
• Supplement print reporting with video; be willing to shoot and edit video, and discuss your reporting in front of a camera.
• Analyze data and records, talk to sources and officials responsible for policies and corruption and confront them at public settings if necessary.
• Work with EIU editor to revise, ensure stories meet fairness, completeness and avoid libel or defamation.
• Regularly produce impactful investigations, follows and enterprise stories. This is not a position to report for six months to produce a 10,000-word series. We expect regular, high-impact investigations.

Expectations for the Role:

• Have excellent writing and research abilities while adhering to Associated Press style.
• Take direction well and be willing to learn from The Center Square's experienced editors and other journalists.
• Live in Washington state, preferably near Seattle and Olympia.
• Meet sources both inside and outside of government.
• Focus on stories that will have impact and make a difference. We look for stories with the potential to change state law or policy, start criminal or internal investigations and spark audits and reviews.
• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, political science, or a related field is preferred but not required, and at least two years of investigative government reporting experience or five years of high-impact daily journalism with a proven track record of enterprise and investigative work on a beat.
• Proficient in understanding news and moving fast to find new and investigative angles on breaking and developing stories.
• Able to be aggressive but professional and not take no for an answer.
• Writing approachable news copy to distill complex issues into concise explanations.
• Be well-versed in libel and defamation law and knowing how to make sure stories avoid those and are fair, complete.
• Multimedia reporting focused on utilizing video stream to pull and edit video and audio clips for affiliate use.

Benefits Summary:

Center Square offers health, dental, vision, disability, and employer-paid life insurance from day one. It also offers a 401(k) with up to a 4% match after 30 days, plus pre-tax flexible spending accounts.