Investigative Reporter

10 Mar, 2021

Overview

The Investigations team at the Chicago Tribune is seeking an investigative reporter to continue our vital work of exposing injustice, holding powerful people and institutions accountable and fulfilling the highest purpose of journalism, public service. We hope you will answer the call, bringing your skills, passion and ideas to our newsroom.

The ideal candidate will be motivated, energetic, collaborative with the greater newsroom and quick to pivot when a story opportunity presents itself. We value short- and medium-term watchdog work in addition to traditional projects.

Journalism by this team has changed our city, state and nation for the better. We have exposed the abuse of children in public schools, dangerous conditions in nursing homes and residential treatment centers, unfair property tax assessments, failures by pharmacists to protect consumers, and more.

We’ve been fortunate to be recognized for this work with scores of awards and consideration for the biggest prizes on almost an annual basis (our investigations have been finalists for a Pulitzer Prize seven times since 2009). And our data and analytics research shows us that watchdog reporting resonates with our subscribers and encourages them to make visiting our site a frequent habit.

Qualifications

To help us build on what we have achieved, a fixed amount of experience is not required. More important are your skills, your history of breaking important stories, your enthusiasm, tenacity and hustle. If you cannot check all the boxes listed below, but you’re the right person for this job, make your pitch. What do you bring to the table? How do you want to grow? What topic areas demand our attention?

Among the assets we value on this team:

+ A track record of groundbreaking work that made an impact.

+ The ability to generate story ideas.

+ Willingness to execute short- and medium-term watchdog work in addition to stories that merit more investment of time and resources.

+ A collaborative spirit, working with other team members and across departments, as well as with other news organizations when warranted.

+ Experience in requesting and analyzing public data and documents.

+ Strong writing ability – the ability to communicate clearly, efficiently and powerfully with the written word.

+ A fanatical devotion to accuracy.

Please include your resume and 5 clips.

Tribune Publishing is committed to hiring people with diverse backgrounds, voices and visions. Be yourself. Bring yourself. Because that’s the only way we will deliver on our mission to provide meaningful journalism to the diverse communities we serve. We hold ourselves accountable for fostering inclusion and opportunity across race, gender, age, creed, identity and experience. Join us.