Data Reporter - AI & Storytelling

NJ.com readers have a strong appetite for journalism that uses data to explain their lives. They want to know how their schools compare, what a storm means for their neighborhood, how much their property taxes have increased and what public records reveal about the places they live.

NJ.com is hiring a data-focused Reporter who can use AI tools to turn public records, live data and smart analysis into reporting readers can act on. The job is equal parts reporting and building: finding the story inside a data set, verifying it, and getting it in front of readers in the form of stories, interactive maps, and lookup tools that readers can explore.

We’re seeking a journalist who moves fast and adapts faster. AI tools are changing what one reporter can do in a day, and this role is built around that shift: less time lost to formatting and cleaning data, more time spent on the reporting only a human can do. This position is primarily focused on pitching and reporting data stories that connect to the daily lives of New Jersey residents — at a pace that matches how fast news moves now.

You will join the newsroom's largest team of reporters, covering everything from breaking news and public safety to weather, real estate and education, while supporting our investigative, politics, sports and health teams. It is a place where a good idea can travel from a Slack message to a live, reader-facing tool within days or even hours.

We’re looking for someone who is curious about what makes New Jersey tick, with a desire to find the communities that connect the state and tell their stories through data.  You should treat every AI output the way you treat a tip from a source you just met – promising but unverified until proven out – and have a desire to build skills through conferences, coursework and our internal AI training.

The base pay for this position is $60,000 - $70,000 annually.

This job requires reliable transportation to meet with sources and cover events.

What you’ll be doing:

• Produce multiple data stories a week, including quick-turn pieces tied to breaking news published while readers are still looking for the answer.
• Scrape, clean, join and structure public records and data sets, using AI-assisted workflows to compress the grunt work and spend time on the reporting that only a human can do.
• Create visualizations and custom interactive pages — searchable tables, maps, lookup tools, trackers and dashboards — designed mobile-first and embedded directly in our articles.
• Using AI coding tools, you will move from idea to working prototype in days and iterate based on what readers actually use.
• Reach readers where they are, extending your work beyond the article page into newsletters, alerts, social video, subscriber-exclusive tools and other emerging formats
• Interview experts, officials and ordinary people to give the numbers a pulse and build sources who bring you data before anyone else has it.
• Hold the line on accuracy, ensuring every AI-assisted story goes through human review and carries our standard disclosure.
• Partner with reporters, multimedia journalists, social specialists and editors across the newsroom on joint coverage and big enterprise swings.

Our ideal candidate will have the following:

• A bachelor's degree in journalism, communications or a related field, or equivalent education and work experience.
• Minimum of 2 years of professional journalism experience, including published work that shows you can find, analyze and report a story out of a data set.
• A clear and engaging writing style, and the ability to make a complicated number feel like a human story.
• Demonstrated experience using AI tools in a professional workflow — data analysis, document review, prototyping, research — along with an understanding of their limits and a desire to help lead expansion of those efforts in our newsroom.
• Familiarity with public data sources such as the Census Bureau, state agency portals and municipal records, including how to file and fight for records that are not posted online.
• The ability to work independently under deadline pressure and prioritize appropriately.
• A sound understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure, including the ethics of AI use and disclosure.
• Experience using social media to find stories and promote content.
• The ability to work collaboratively with editors, reporters, designers and audience specialists, and to take and act on feedback under deadline. 

Candidates should include with their application a link to a portfolio or examples of their data reporting and any interactive tools they have built.