Our ideal candidate will be a classic, nimble G.A. reporter, able to jump on breaking news and produce smart, contextual, enterprise journalism in a digital-focused newsroom. It’s not an entry-level gig; we need a reporter with the news judgment tools and reporting skills to anticipate and produce local takes on subjects with regional and national interest. On our team-oriented staff, this reporter must be able to work independently, with the drive and skills to produce cleanly written daily stories derived from original reporting.
What you will do:
- Report and write quick-turn explainers on breaking news, trending topics, interesting events and activities across Northwest Washington state, for publication on cascadiadaily.com or in our weekly print edition.
- Maintain an active presence on social media to promote and distribute your work, and occasionally report live events.
- Brainstorm story ideas and work with editors to repurpose some content and enhance our existing daily digital/social storytelling.
- This job will begin with a roughly 70-30 split between G.A. duties and online news production/deadline story editing for a short term before transitioning to full-time G.A. pending our hiring of a new managing editor.
What it will take to be successful:
- Comfort with producing high-quality work on deadline.
- Strong news judgment, creativity and meticulousness.
- Ability to report stories and write quickly while keeping the strictest commitment to fairness, accuracy and clarity.
- A focus on inclusion of a diversity of sources and voices in stories.
- Ability to maintain contact via Slack and other tools for breaking news assignments when working from home or on location; some flexible scheduling is required.
- Ability to mine social media and analyze digital data for story ideas.
- Ability to collaborate with all newsroom teams and work in a fast-changing news environment.
Required skills:
- Bachelor’s degree in journalism or related field.
- At least two years’ experience in a newsroom or a related work environment.
- Home base in Whatcom County, Washington. This position is full time in our newsroom in a historic building in downtown Bellingham.
- Some experience in front-line editing and online posting of stories, during initial stages of job; occasional fill-in producer shifts moving forward.
- Strong news judgment and the ability to distinguish process from news of community impact.
- Social media acumen including the ability to use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other networks to deliver news to a diverse audience.
- Familiarity with current AP Style rules and libel laws, and adherence to the publication’s ethics guidelines.
- Valid driver’s license and means of personal transportation.
Preferred skills and qualifications:
- Basic photography/videography skills and ability to post digital audio and images.
- Ability to work cooperatively in a team-oriented, multigenerational newsroom.
- Familiarity with MS Office (Excel, SharePoint), Adobe Suite, Slack and other typical office comms tools.
- Cohabitating senses of adventure and humor. We are serious about our hard work, but have fun doing it.
Salary: Pay ranging from $50K to $60K DOE.
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