Crain’s Chicago Business seeks an ambitious and knowledgeable journalist to be a full-time, digital-first reporter covering Chicago’s food & consumer products companies, advertising & marketing firms, media, retailing and restaurants. This beat is an opportunity to cover some of the biggest companies in the world, including McDonald’s, Kraft Heinz and Walgreens, as well as some of the smallest—the dining entrepreneurs who have made Chicago a world-class foodie destination and the local craft brewers making their mark on a growing industry. The ideal candidate will have at least five years’ reporting experience, be nimble with social media, be comfortable interpreting complex corporate financial filings, be capable of writing compelling personality profiles as well as in-depth news analysis, and be eager to break news in a competitive news environment on the web as well as in print. The ideal candidate is a self-starter and curious, and be able develop sources, multitask, and work closely with Crain’s editors.
Basic Qualifications
- 3+ years of experience in business journalism
- Skilled at generating story ideas, writing cleanly and coherently, developing sources, breaking news, and working quickly with minimum supervision
- Experience writing for all platforms: digital, print, newsletters
- Experience writing analytical trend and enterprise pieces as well as breaking news stories
- An understanding of financial and business terminology
- Ability to travel as needed within metro Chicago
- Ability to work in newsroom during standard office hours and as needed outside of those hours
- Portfolio / examples of recent and relevant work which demonstrates business journalism experience
Preferences
- 5+ years reporting experience
- Background covering the food, consumer products and retail beat in Chicago or a wealth of information on those industries in Chicago
- A deep contact list in the consumer products, food, restaurants or retail industries
- A familiarity with ChicagoBusiness.com and Crain’s Chicago Business: what and who we cover
- The more scoops you’ve generated in your current job or previous jobs, the better
- Knowledge of and/or experience with a Bloomberg terminal
- Background of programming live events and advising custom media teams
To apply, go here.
Chris RoushChris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.