The New York Times announces new hire for National

Jessica Contrera

One of the toughest challenges in journalism is how to explain big, knotty issues through clear, close-up storytelling that readers can’t resist. 

Jessica Contrera is a master of the form. 

Over a decade at The Washington Post, she drew a devoted following with memorable stories that revealed the consequences of big decisions and events on individual lives. To help explain the inequities of the pandemic, she followed the journey of a single cheeseburger from farm to table. To show the impact of rising hate crimes, she followed the aftermath of a senior prank gone wrong. 

Jess knows her way around breaking news, having reported from the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and Parkland, Fla., soon after the horrific 2018 school shooting there. She and several colleagues spent over a year investigating sexual abuse of children by police officers, a project that exposed how hundreds of law enforcement officers have sexually abused children while officials failed to take basic steps to stop them. Most recently, she embedded with a mom and her teenagers in the Cleveland suburbs to chronicle how A.I. is quietly upending family life.

Now Jess will focus on a place she knows well, joining National’s Mid-Atlantic bureau as a correspondent in Ohio, a newsy and influential state that reflects so many different facets of American life. 

It’s also the place that Jess calls home. After attending Indiana University and living in D.C. for 12 years, she and her husband returned to their hometown of Akron last year. She brings the roots and knowledge of a local, the fresh eyes of someone rediscovering the state and a keen sense of how to make those stories matter to readers everywhere. 

“Jess is a master of her craft with all the tools — a nose for compelling and often viral stories, a knack for unearthing new revelations and a gift for clear, gripping and empathetic writing,” said Peter Wallsten, who helped oversee some of her work at The Washington Post. “Only Jess would have come up with the idea to not merely profile a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 languages, but to take him to MIT so they could each get their brains scanned. And it was Jess who conceived of and led an investigation into police abuse of kids that prompted changes at the federal and local level.”

Jess will also spend time in western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia. She will start on Aug. 10. Please join us in welcoming her.