The Connecticut Mirror (CT Mirror), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, digital newsroom that covers statewide public policy and politics, has an immediate opening for a full-time reporter to cover the state’s criminal justice system and issues related more broadly to justice, such as voting rights, environmental justice, and discrimination based on race, ethnicity and gender.

This beat will be an integral part of our broader policy coverage, which includes education, human services, health care, the state budget, the environment, and economic development, among other topics, and will require a mix of daily stories and deeper-dive enterprise stories on substantive policy and human-interest issues, especially those that would otherwise go untold.

This reporter will be responsible for building sources within the state’s justice system - including those who are incarcerated, police, attorneys, judges, public officials, community groups, and advocates - and will work collaboratively with other staff reporters to cover the intersection of justice with other coverage areas, such as human services and health. The reporter will also be responsible for tracking and writing stories about legislation that impacts the people, state agencies and service providers that fall under their coverage area.

We are particularly interested in stories that hold government accountable and expose systemic problems. The successful candidate will be able to make meaningful connections between the role of government and the challenges experienced by the people impacted by the criminal justice system.

To succeed in this job, you must be able to write clearly, translate jargon and use narrative and other techniques to make readers care. We also prefer someone with previous experience or exposure to multiplatform work, including newsletters, video, audio and other story forms.

We’re interested in candidates who have:

• A passion for great journalism that covers policy, government and politics;
• At least three years of experience reporting at a daily news organization;
• The ability to translate complex policy into readable and relevant narrative copy;
• A talent for connecting government or system failures to human consequences;
• An eagerness for telling stories in innovative, compelling ways across platforms and in a way that engages audiences;
• 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.

We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all these areas, and this is not a complete list of all relevant qualifications applicants might bring to the job. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us.

This position will be based in our Hartford, CT newsroom. We strongly encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply.  

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

• Annual salary of $65,000-$75,000, depending on experience.
• 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.
• 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.

Please apply by October 7^th using this link:

https://airtable.com/appmPgbUU6FJ7IgXB/shr54TfuYcQiG0Tgt

Questions? Contact Executive Editor Elizabeth Hamilton via email, ehamilton@ctmirror.org. No phone calls please.

About The Connecticut Mirror

Nonprofit, non-partisan, digital only news publication covering public policy, government, and politics in Connecticut. Beats include: Three-person investigative team, state budget, justice, health, housing, education, economic development, environment, legislature, and campaign, elections, and politics. 18 full-time and seven part-time staff. Founded in 2010.

Connections working at The Connecticut Mirror