CT Mirror seeks economic development reporter

The Connecticut Mirror (CT Mirror) is a nonprofit, local journalism success story with huge momentum and ambitious growth goals.

We are hiring our first-ever Economic Development Reporter to report on the performance of the state and regional economies, economic development trends, economic or industry cluster formation and performance, components of a strong economy (e.g., transportation, infrastructure, business climate), impact of state funding strategies related to business attraction and retention, accountability for business use of state investments, constraints for and opportunities in advancing economic development, small business formation, and equity.

This position is distinct from a Business Reporter position in that it does not report on quarterly earnings / financial performance, new products, C-suite personnel moves, or small increases or reductions in jobs or capacity.

We’re interested in candidates who have:

• A background or strong interest in economics and / or finance;
• A passion for great journalism that covers policy, government and politics;
• Interest in reporting and publishing a combination of long-form enterprise and daily incremental stories;
• The flexibility to tell stories in innovative, compelling ways across multiple platforms and in a way that engages audiences through a variety of formats and tools including virtual and live events, podcasts, video, and static and interactive data visualization;
• The ability to translate complex policy into readable and relevant narrative copy;
• A talent for connecting government or system failures to human consequences;
• The ability to work well both independently and collaboratively with other CT Mirror staff and other news organizations;
• Passion for CT Mirror’s public policy mission and nonprofit ethos.

CT Mirror is a nonprofit, non-partisan, online news organization covering public policy, government and politics in Connecticut. In our first 10 years, we became the most trusted source for news about public policy in the state. Our goals include:

• Expanding the breadth of our reporting in 2021 by adding an Investigative unit, expanding our economic development reporting, establishing a greater presence in Fairfield County and increasing our investment in multi-platform distribution of our content.
• Diversifying our staff and sourcing to better reflect the population of Connecticut.
• Providing more opportunities for young, aspiring journalists.
• Other goals that we can’t imagine yet but that will be necessary to thrive in a rapidly changing media landscape!

Here’s our commitment to the candidate whom we hire:

• A competitive salary designed to attract a strong reporters with a passion for local journalism.
• Medical and dental benefits, generous paid-time-off policy and a basic 403b retirement savings program.
• Professional development and the opportunity to learn from peers at industry conferences.
• Transparent internal review and feedback process.
• Cell phone stipend.
• New PC or refurbished MAC.
• You’ll work hard because we’re serious about our mission, but you’ll laugh plenty along the way because we can’t always be serious!
• We embrace the American Press Institute’s Guiding Principles for Nonprofit Newsrooms.

CT Mirror is committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve.  We do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of our hiring, procurement, volunteer recruitment, or other activities or operations. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, board, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and readers.

The Economic Development Reporter position reports to Managing Editor Stephen Busemeyer and would ideally start by July 1, but no later than September 1.

Please apply by Friday, May 7.  Questions? Contact Managing Editor Stephen Busemeyer (sbusemeyer(at)CTMirror.org).  No phone calls please.