Freelance Journalists
About The Center Square
The Center Square is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit national newswire service headquartered in Chicago with staff deployed across the country. We produce original, taxpayer-focused government accountability journalism for more than 1,360 local, state, and national media partners, reaching 141 million Americans daily.
Focus on the size, scope, cost, and effectiveness of government is our distinct lane, and has been the key to The Center Square's unprecedented growth as a U.S. news brand. At a time when news media is contracting, and media trust is waning, The Center Square is growing rapidly by providing original news that is well reported, fair, and focused on covering government for the people and holding those in power to account.
We call it The Center Square Way. It means we hold government accountable by showing people what their government is doing, what it costs them, and what it means for the taxpayers, businesses and communities where they live. Our reporters do not write opinion. Our editors do not tolerate it. We compete on accuracy, velocity and frequency — filing more stories, faster, with fewer errors than anyone else covering this beat. Every story goes through a backfield editing system designed to catch what other newsrooms miss. That’s not a slogan. It’s how we operate, every day, across every state we cover.
The Center Square has grown from a startup in 2019 to one of the most widely distributed newswire services in the country — because media partners trust our copy and readers trust our approach. We intend to keep earning that trust.
We operate as professionals. We compensate our employees well and offer a generous benefit plan.
The Role
We're looking for individuals who have government reporting experience, and a strong interest and understanding of public policy and how policy decisions in state capitals affect taxpayers back home.
The Center Square covers government from a taxpayers’ perspective, not from government’s perspective. We hold government officials accountable for their actions and decisions, and inform our readers how those decisions affect them.
The media industry in the U.S. is shrinking, leaving fewer options for readers to digest the decisions made by their state and local government officials. The Center Square, the state-focused reporting division of the non-partisan, non-profit Franklin News Foundation, seeks to fill this journalistic void.
To apply, please send resume and writing samples Dan McCaleb, executive editor, via email: jobs@thecentersquare.com.