Staff Writer

New Times in San Luis Obispo County is looking for its next staff writer, but we’re not looking for just any article-pushing, source-wrangling, story-chasing someone. Are you sick of editing or regurgitating press releases day after day? Or maybe it’s those damn list things—you know the ones: “Top 10 hottest places to eat your lunch on a rainy day.” Or maybe it’s just not being able to put the time and reporting into a story that deserves it: the weeks and repeated phone calls that give a story what it needs to ripen into the hard-charging, data-filled narrative it’s dying to be; the time that turns a “meh” story into one that blows a hole in the status quo.

Can you see the big picture of what a story means to a community? Is that what drives you? Do you know what it takes to—yes, we know, it’s cliché—make a difference in the lives of the people you cover? Does that sort of thing matter to you?

If so, then you’re exactly who we’re looking for: a staff writer who isn’t afraid to take on the tedious, the tenuous, or the talented. That certain someone who can wrestle a story to the ground and fill it with the things that matter to the communities of San Luis Obispo County. Agricultural, water, and environmental advocacy aren’t the only things that drive this place—although those are pretty juicy beats. There’s more, and we want to hire someone who can drive his or herself to unearth those stories and tell them in a meaningful way.

Let us know if you’ve got what it takes. We dare you. Send a résumé, cover letter, and story samples to Cindy Rucker at crucker@newtimesslo.com.

New Times Media Group is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.