Expand your journalism experience by leveraging your breaking news and digital skills in a dynamic work environment with Alabama’s largest news organization. As an Auburn beat reporter, you will help us own coverage of Auburn athletics with a focus on football and breaking news for AL.com by joining our award-winning sports staff Alabama Media Group is a digitally-focused news organization encompassing all content, marketing and sales operations for AL.com and our three newspapers across the state. By bringing together the quality journalism and in-depth coverage of newspapers with the up-to-the-minute information of AL.com, we are ensuring the communities we serve have 24/7 access to what’s happening locally and around the world.
To be a good fit for this opportunity, you will have:
- A bachelor’s degree in journalism, Communications or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 1-2 years of journalism experience with a proven ability in breaking news of significance
- An understanding of how to access and use public records for breaking news stories
- Proven experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience through various platforms
- Mastery of social media and digital interaction with audience for reporting and promoting stories
- Eager to work under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately
- A solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
- Experience with search engine optimization practices
- Experience taking photos, recording audio and shooting video with the ability to edit
- An understanding of the methods and tools used to deliver content across a variety of digital platforms, and an understanding of the imperatives of multiple platforms, including print, web, mobile, social media, etc.
- A proven ability to utilize a broad set of tools to tell stories and engage the audience
- The ability and desire to remain abreast of industry advances and to proactively consider new methods of reaching audiences including engaging, interactive and optimized product offerings
THE ROLE:
- You will have Auburn beat reporting responsibilities as part of a two-person team, so versatility and the ability to write authoritatively about multiple sports is key.
- Your normal work hours may be on the early shift, nights or weekends, so you’ll need to have the flexibility to cover what is needed.
- In addition to traditional breaking news and feature reporting, your role will include monitoring coverage and analysis on other sports news outlets and aggregating relevant reporting onto our site.
- You will also monitor reader response through audience data, comment streams, and social media reaction while engaging with readers on all platforms.
- Ours is a digitally focused, multimedia newsroom; on any given day you may find yourself writing a long-form narrative or a series of incremental updates to a breaking sports report
- Recording and editing topical video or podcast audio
- Shooting and editing photos and building online galleries
- Interacting with readers in live chats or social media comment streams
- Optimizing your post for a social or search-driven audience in a Content Management System.
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
- To excel in this role, you will be a driven, dynamic reporter and writer with the ability to deliver a high volume of content every day.
- You should be able to proactively identify stories that are trending and respond quickly, keeping the quality of content consistent and engaging.
- You’ll need to be able to succeed in a collaborative environment while also possessing the ability to work independently.
- You’ll need to have a demonstrated digital background and to feel at home in the digital world.
- Because we are an online, daily operation, you will also need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
- You should be someone who excels and thrives under pressure and can produce quality work regardless of the deadline you’re under.
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