If you are a journalist who always knows the latest unemployment rate and can explain what difference Wall Street makes to my life as a Californian, you might be the next economy reporter at CalMatters.

This is not a business reporter job, but this reporter knows what motivates business. This job is about helping people understand the business and economic trends that shape public policy, that influence the cost of living, that reveal the jobs being created and those that are going away. CalMatters explains the major state issues in California and all of it — education, environment, healthcare, transportation, justice — is shaped by the state’s business and economic trends. California is also a high-cost, high wage state and one of its central debates is about maintaining those high wages and lowering those high costs.

Recently, the economy beat has closely followed the emerging Future of Work themes in California, particularly the high stakes policy debate about gig jobs that landed on the 2020 ballot in Proposition 22. Another important focus has been the impact of the pandemic: how the state has sought to help businesses and how California businesses have been shaped in ways that may be long lasting, including an exploration of the California exodus claims.

This is a rich beat with a variety of human, business and political stories.

Responsibilities include:

• Report and write longform and short stories and multimedia presentations about California economic issues with close attention to state policies and legislation, the lobby community and advocates. 
• Think creatively about formats and tools for communicating technology issues to a broad, statewide audience.
• Appeal to a broad audience in a big diverse state with keen awareness about social and cultural distinctions and story sources that reflect our population.
• Participate in radio shows, public events and live video.
• Work with our data, visual and social media journalists to create the best presentations of economy stories.

These would be a plus:

• There is a preference this reporter will be based in Sacramento
• Experience at covering the economy or business issues
• An understanding of economic policy, especially in California

We are an expanding and collaborative newsroom, successfully forging a new model for sustainable, intelligent, nonprofit journalism. We’re committed to diversity and especially encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply. If you’re interested, please provide a resume, a cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job and links to at least six online samples of your work. Write to jobs@calmatters.org with the job title in the subject line.