Palo Alto staff writer

Description

The Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online are award-winning independent providers of news and information serving the Palo Alto community. They are part of Embarcadero Media Foundation, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit that also publishes seven other websites that produce breaking and community news and lifestyle coverage. The Palo Alto Weekly has a history of innovation and was the first newspaper in the United States to publish its content on the World Wide Web.

We pride ourselves on providing our readers with insightful, accurate and unbiased news about our diverse community through PaloAltoOnline.com, daily Express email newsletter and weekly print newspaper. 

As a full-time reporter for the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online, you will be responsible for establishing productive relationships with sources, seeking out and pitching stories of interest and importance to our readers, and reporting on spot or breaking news in our circulation area. As part of our collaborative newsroom, you will cover regional stories that are also published in Embarcadero Media's other Midpeninsula news outlets, the Menlo Park Almanac, the Mountain View Voice and the Redwood City Pulse. 

This position specializes in education and general assignment coverage of the city but will also include opportunities for enterprise reporting. 

Reporting on these beats ranges from policy-level analysis to human interest story-telling, encompassing issues and social trends in the Palo Alto community and local region. At times, your reporting will require investigative effort, the filing of Public Records Act requests and persistent behind-the-scenes interviewing of non-official sources in order to gain a full understanding of what is happening. 

You will work with your editor to brainstorm and prioritize your assignments each week and come up with ideas for photos and other graphics to accompany your stories. You will occasionally work with the staff visual journalist on special reporting projects. 

You will meet deadlines for the paper's daily Express newsletter as well as breaking stories to be posted immediately. The scope of your beat is wide. It should often be the case that the reporter takes a national issue or social trend and localizes it, and therefore an important requirement is to monitor national publications.

Reporters are expected to seek out and be responsive to reader questions and concerns and provide updates for social media accounts when reporting on breaking news.

In conjunction with traditional reporting, the staff writer is expected to actively participate in the department's expansion into online video reporting, including interviews and reporter roundtables. You may occasionally participate in forums or other community or foundation events.

The ideal candidate will have a bachelor's degree, at least two years of professional reporting experience, a thorough knowledge of AP Style, and excellent communication and organization skills. Fluency in written and spoken Spanish and familiarity with the Palo Alto area is a big plus. 

The position includes health and dental benefits, vacations, paid holidays and access to the organization's 403(b) plan. The pay range is $21-$27/hour, depending on experience. To apply, send a resume, cover letter and three news clips to Editor Gennady Sheyner at gsheyner@embarcaderopublishing.com.