Rapid Response Investigative Reporter

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Press Democrat – the voice of California’s Sonoma and Napa counties, and the wider North Bay – seeks a quick-turn investigative reporter to join The PD Impact Team. This group of a half-dozen seasoned journalists leads our enterprise, investigative and longer-form storytelling efforts, and partners with our beat reporters on coverage of big breaking news events and hot news topics, such as the massive planned program cuts at Sonoma State University and school closures within Santa Rosa’s public education system.

This reporter will be one of three investigative reporters on the Impact Team, with a focus on vacuuming up government payroll records, contracts, court documents and other public records – and mining them for stories. The successful candidate also will be a leader in filing public records requests and doing deeper-dive reporting in the wake of major news events, such as school violence, wildfires, floods, earthquakes and other disasters. The Press Democrat has built a reputation for watchdogging a litany of social service and homelessness services providers throughout Sonoma and Napa counties, so pointed coverage of homelessness and housing, including affordable-housing deals, also will fall on this reporter’s plate. Some of our recent coverage on that front has been singled out as a semifinalist for the 2025 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

To get a sense of the types of investigative stories and big-story coverage our Impact Team produces, we encourage applicants to view stories from current team members Phil Barber and Marisa Endicott.

Key responsibilities

The ideal journalist for this role will . . .

• Be as adept at doing shoe-leather reporting and source-building as at gathering information from public documents and downloading it into spreadsheets

• Know the California Public Records Act inside and out and be able to assist the entire newsroom with writing records requests

• Have an eye for spotting overlooked sources of information, including datasets that can be obtained quickly through digital means

• Juggle a mix of stories, with the ability to turn on a dime, setting aside longer-term projects for a bit to focus on the “story of the day” and “topic of the week or month”

• Have a track record of producing impactful, revelatory work (including on deadline) that, in some cases, has sparked government/criminal investigations or changed laws

• Be a team player who takes direction well and works collaboratively with editors, reporters, visual journalists and The Press Democrat audience team. A willingness to share bylines is a must

• Have knowledge of social media and multimedia storytelling, including the ability to provide photos and video if on assignment without a visual journalist

• Write stories of varying lengths, including “alternative story formats” that answer readers’ questions and provide quicker takes on sometimes complicated longer-form stories

• Promote their stories from their own social media feeds, as well as the stories of their colleagues

• Make every effort to tell all sides of the story – and report in a manner that keeps professionalism, diversity, equity and inclusion top of mind

• College degree in journalism or an applicable field

• At least four years’ experience as a reporter or editor at a daily newspaper, magazine or web publication.

• Ability to write with clarity and authority in a fast-paced environment

• Proficiency in AP style

• Access to reliable 24/7 transportation, valid driver’s license, etc.

• Residency within the Greater North Bay, preferably Sonoma or Napa counties. We require Impact Team reporters to be in the office three days a week, with exceptions for reporting time in the field

Salary & Benefits

Under California law, Sonoma Media Investments is required to include a reasonable estimate for the compensation of this role. The reasonable estimate is between $61,000 and $73,000, depending on years of experience as outlined in The Press Democrat Guild’s contract with Sonoma Media Investments. This is a Guild (non-exempt) position, with salary, vacation and health care benefits set by the Guild’s collective bargaining agreement.

To apply

Submit a cover letter, resume and links to – or PDFs of – five to seven samples of your work. This not only can be conventional stories, but photos, videos and other pieces of journalism. Show us your range of reporting.

About Sonoma Media Investments and The Press Democrat 

Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and a George Polk Award, The Press Democrat is the flagship of Sonoma Media Investments, a locally owned and debt-free media company with more than 70 journalists across seven publications. Our main office is in Santa Rosa, California, an hour north of San Francisco, where vineyards give way to redwood forests and the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, but our coverage area extends throughout the North Bay, including Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties.

Sonoma Media Investments is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Sonoma Media Investments values the contribution of our employees and offers a competitive compensation plan. We also offer an array of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401K, and Paid Time Off. Any job offer is conditional upon satisfactorily completing a pre-employment background investigation.

SMI Diversity & Inclusion Statement

The primary duty of a media company is to seek out and tell the truth through its journalism. At the same time, we must maintain a company culture that is inclusive and free of discrimination of any kind. We at Sonoma Media Investments acknowledge the difficult truth that over the course of our long history, we have not always been consistent or effective in fulfilling another duty, to protect and defend those who are trivialized, disregarded, sidelined or treated unfairly in our community, and within our own company. We at SMI are committed to creating and maintaining a company culture that is actively antiracist and scrupulously inclusive within our company’s work environment, and in how we report on and engage with the community we serve, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, national origin, faith, age, ability or size. We pledge to promote equality and humane treatment of others, and to oppose prejudice, indifference, sexism, intolerance and hate. This we will do through our hiring, promotion and retention practices, through our advertising programs and customer service, and through our news coverage and community engagement.