The Philadelphia Business Journal is looking for a data reporter who will be a spreadsheet master with journalism chops to build on the newsroom’s strong legacy of using data to drive essential, exclusive business coverage.
The data reporter is able to gather and analyze original data on the industries, companies and trends driving business decisions in the metro Philadelphia region, and communicate what they uncover using both text and visual storytelling techniques.
The data reporter’s work begins with building our proprietary Lists (ranked on gathered information such as revenue and square footage, depending on the list) but this individual will dig deeper, going beyond the rankings to tell stories significant to our business community.
Job responsibilities
• Collects and analyzes company and industry data for Philadelphia Business Journal’s weekly industry Lists, using surveys, public documents and other relevant sources.
• Regularly reports stories based on data from the Lists and other research projects using appropriate narrative and visual storytelling techniques.
• Reports and writes four to six cover stories for our weekly paper each year using data resources.
• Oversees the creation of charts and infographics to illustrate research data findings, including supplementing other reporters’ work.
• Works alongside reporters and editors on enterprise projects that include or are driven by data.
• Manages Philadelphia Business Journal’s database of regional companies.
Skills and experience
• Highly organized: Able to juggle multiple projects in order to hit various deadlines.
• Self-motivated: Able to suggest and initiate new research projects — with guidance from editors — then contact sources within the industry to develop surveys and company databases.
• Attentive to detail: Able to follow AP Style and layout guidelines on Lists, and create surveys with clear requirements for respondents. Drive for 100% accuracy.
• Skilled at data management, survey techniques and computer-assisted research and reporting methods, knowing how to structure and normalize large data sets and databases.
• Strong news judgment with proven ability to discover high-impact stories in data.
• Persistent: Willing and able to make multiple efforts to follow up with company representatives, particularly those on previous year’s Lists, to get updated information or if survey responses seem odd or inconsistent.
• 2-5 years as a journalist with a track record of reporting on data such as the SEC or EDGAR, FDIC, the Census and the BLS.
• Philadelphia community experience is a plus.
Education
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
To apply, go here.
