Public Safety Reporter

The Oregonian seeks a reporter to cover public safety news with urgency, follow trends and pivot to watchdog coverage as time and circumstance allow in a high-impact job within a team that leads the newsroom’s coverage of major issues of the day. The team puts a premium on curiosity, collegiality and flexibility to cover news when and where it happens. The right candidate understands iteration and competition and uses a mixture of field work, source development and savvy mining of public records to add context, depth and a human perspective to stories.

What you’ll get the opportunity to do:
-- Offer an engaged readership the first and best take on breaking stories, whether they’re across town or across the state.
-- Dive into some of Portland’s (and the nation’s) most pressing problems – including policing, crime, systemic racism and quality of life -- with an accountability-solutions bent
-- Find victims, tell their stories and leverage your journalism to improve the status quo for Oregonians who are being marginalized or harmed
-- Work closely with mentors and editors and collaborate with data, photo and video journalists

The ideal candidate will have:
-- Degree in Journalism, Communications or related field are a plus, or commensurate experience.
-- Minimum of 2 years of journalism experience with a proven ability for clear, engaging writing, fresh story framing and diverse sourcing
-- Excellent time management skills with ability to work under tight deadlines when needed
-- Skill at using social media and digital platforms to drive traffic and engage readers, including experience with search engine optimization practices
-- Ability to take photos, video and audio on assignment as needed

We encourage reporters with diverse experiences and backgrounds to apply. Proficiency in Spanish or another world language spoken widely in Oregon (such as Mandarin, Vietnamese or Russian) would be a great additional skill set.