Reporter

About the role

The East Bay Times is looking for an energetic, enterprising reporter to help cover Oakland, one of the Bay Area’s most consequential and closely watched cities. Oakland is wrestling with questions that will shape the city for decades: whether it can stabilize its finances without gutting essential services, reduce homelessness as it changes its approach to encampments, improve public safety while demanding police accountability, revive downtown, and transform the 112-acre Coliseum site into an economic engine for East Oakland. Behind those debates are deeply human stories about who gets to live, work, and build a future in the city.

We want a reporter who is curious about how Oakland works, eager to get out into the community, and determined to uncover stories that residents cannot find anywhere else. You’ll cover breaking news and major public decisions while developing the sources and expertise needed to produce original enterprise and accountability journalism. This position is well suited to an early-career reporter ready to take on a prominent city beat with the support of experienced editors and a collaborative regional newsroom.

Responsibilities

• Break news and own major developments across Oakland
• Go beyond daily updates to deliver reporting that explains the impact and stakes
• Build deep sourcing across government, neighborhoods, businesses, advocacy groups, and community organizations
• Pursue accountability reporting using documents, data, and public records
• Collaborate across the newsroom on high-impact coverage
• Report and publish across platforms in real time
• Write clean, engaging stories with clarity and authority
• Spend approximately 60% of your time in the field reporting from communities across Oakland and Alameda County
• Focus the remaining 40% of your time writing, researching, planning, and collaborating with colleagues in the Oakland office
• Primarily work with a laptop in the field and office, though you may sometimes work from a cell phone when reporting breaking news from the field
• Potentially be assigned stories outside of your primary coverage area
• Travel to Concord and San Jose for staff meetings on occasion

Requirements

• Proficiency in using online tools to communicate with colleagues in real time across our three newsroom offices and the field
• Strong news judgment and a competitive drive
• A track record of producing reporting that goes beyond surface-level coverage
• Experience working sources, records, and data to uncover original stories
• The ability to manage multiple stories under deadline pressure
• Comfort reporting and publishing across digital platforms and social media
• At least five years of professional journalism experience, ideally including breaking news and government, housing, business, or accountability coverage
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license and have reliable transportation
• Must be available for shift work and may be required to work various hours for coverage outside of normal business hours
• A full pre-employment background check and MVR will be conducted as part of the selection process

Additional language skills are a plus.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, life, and disability insurance
• 401k retirement plan
• Paid time off and select paid holidays (all benefits are based on eligibility)
• Cell phone stipend

Pay

The hourly range is $28.00 - $30.92. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to geographic location, education, work experience, time in role, and certifications.