If you’re a seasoned investigative reporter with exceptional skill at public record requests, data analysis, source development, navigating court cases, turning complexity into compelling narrative and tirelessly checking under every rock, you’re going to love this job doing deep-dive work about the state of California.
Follow the money? California has a $286 billion budget and it received $657 billion in federal COVID assistance. Billions were spent on no-bid contracts to questionable vendors including a $1.7 billion renewal for a problem-plagued company. Meanwhile, the state’s troubled Employment Development Department acknowledged at least $20 billion in fraudulent insurance claims. And the state’s dysfunctional licensing process left nursing home residents vulnerable to troubled owners. And that’s just what we’ve reported recently. This state requires much more accountability journalism to reveal important stories with high stakes for public cost and the well-being of Californians.
CalMatters, launched seven years ago, is an award-winning nonprofit, nonpartisan news venture dedicated to explaining the policy and politics of America’s biggest state and the world’s fifth largest economy. We produce vivid, original journalism and data-driven news analyses and watchdog reporting that’s distributed to more than 250 media partners on calmatters.org and NPR partners statewide.