If you’re a journalist who can help people understand one of today’s most important and complex issues, you might be the next health care reporter at CalMatters. 

As California struggles to recover from a pandemic — and faces a reckoning about the successes and failures of its health system now and in the future — the health beat provides the opportunity to cover vital stories that affect everyone. COVID will continue to cast a long shadow over California, and coverage of it is vital to this beat. Meanwhile, before COVID, California had created a new committee on aging and an Alzheimer’s task force, the governor had appointed appointed its first-ever California surgeon general, and the state was exploring major health policies including  a state generic drug label, , a new stem cell research bond, the governor’s call for single-payer universal coverage and hopes to expand the state’s Obamacare system to undocumented Californians.

We seek an experienced, passionate journalist who is able to conceive and execute stories that break new ground to distinguish our work on the coronavirus and other issues. Someone extremely knowledgeable about how to mine and analyze data in pursuit of great stories. Someone who will closely follow evolving state policies and dig deep to hold government and institutions accountable. Someone who will seek out patients and advocacy groups and explore their challenges and experiences with the health system. An excellent writer, able to craft narratives that weave human experience with politics, policy and data. Someone with multimedia skills to take the reporting beyond text alone.

In our sixth year, CalMatters’ diverse newsroom has become the largest covering California policy and politics. We’re a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, and we give our coverage at no cost to more than 200 media outlets in California who feature our reporting, including some of the largest and most influential outlets in the state. 

Responsibilities include:

• Report and write longform and short stories and multimedia presentations about California health issues with close attention to state policies and legislation, health outcomes, patient experience, industry behavior and advocacy positions
• Seek and analyze health data to uncover hidden developments
• Think creatively about formats and tools for communicating health issues to a broad, statewide audience
• Participate in radio shows, public events and live video
• Work with our data, visual and social media journalists to create the best presentations of health stories
• Use sources, story ideas, research and writing that reflects California’s diversity and the difference in health experience for many communities.

Prerequisites:

• At least three years of professional reporting experience
• Familiarity with complex data sets, especially health-related
• Knowledge of the health system, particularly in California

These would be a plus:

• Data analysis skills (stats, R, Python, Excel)
• Video skills
• Fluency in Spanish or another language besides English
• Based in or near Sacramento

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.