Dallas Morning News seeks an aviation reporter

The Dallas Morning News seeks an ambitious and versatile reporter to cover the important and often-changing airline industry.

While our coverage centers on American and Southwest Airlines – both headquartered in North Texas – it includes operations at two major airports: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport. DFW is the world’s third-busiest airport and an economic catalyst with a $37 billion annual impact on our economy.

Some of The News’ recent aviation scoops and enterprise include coverage of the activist investor drama at Southwest Airlines, a deep dive series into the 50-year-history of DFW International Airport, interviews with top aviation executives and even a sit-down with viral personalities such as Tiffany Gomas, the woman who rose to fame after seeing a “not real” man on a plane.

For business journalists, there’s no better place to be. North Texas is home to 8 million people and demographers expect it to get to 12 million people by 2036. It is also home to two dozen Fortune 500 companies, nearly 80 publicly traded companies with more than $1 billion in revenue, five major league sports teams and thousands of firms representing every segment of the economy.

Texas’ population just crossed the 30 million mark and demographers predict it’ll grow to nearly 40 million by 2036. The impact of such growth raises serious questions about access, equity and resources. We’re looking for a reporter who can connect and dissect these topics into urgent, aggressive and revelatory journalism.

The beat requires a reporter with deep analytical skills and a strong desire to write a compelling mix of consumer, company, and industry stories in a highly competitive environment. It’s an all-encompassing beat — you’ll write about the craziness in the skies, labor strife, travel trends, and the flying culture from travelers’ point of view.

The ideal candidate will possess a fast metabolism to serve readers on multiple platforms, a willingness to experiment with different forms of storytelling, and a drive to hold corporate executives accountable in one of the most far-reaching industries we cover.

Responsibilities and duties:

• Plan for short-term coverage and long-term projects with an eye toward features/enterprise, distinctive journalism that differentiates The Dallas Morning News
• Generate content ideas that include an emphasis on diversity of voices, stories, subjects and perspectives
• Follow closely and develop insights into analytics
• Report fairly, accurately and thoroughly, with sharp, compelling writing.
• Take a hands-on approach to breaking news across digital platforms and display a willingness to create content as needed
• Show strong organizational skills and the ability to multitask on deadline
• Display exceptional news judgment with the ability to recognize the digital potential of stories that will resonate with our audience

Here’s our list of preferred skills and experience: (Please note this is not a checklist of requirements, but should be considered as a pool of preferred qualifications. If you can already do some of these things, great. If you’re excited about figuring out how to do all of them, great! We’d love to hear from you either way.”.)

• Applicants should have at least three years of related reporting experience.

Skills

• Use social media for newsgathering and audience development
• Basic photo editing
• Comfort with fast-paced incremental storytelling (e.g., producing social media updates, updating online stories)
• Basic data literacy and analysis and ability to build charts, graphs and maps with in-house tools
• Demonstrated ability to interpret audience analytics to inform newsgathering decisions
• Basic knowledge of SEO and social headline-writing techniques
• Use newsroom tools for planning, authoring, communicating, etc.
• Collaborate effectively with team members and across newsroom teams
• Work under deadline pressure, communicate clearly, follow instructions, adapt quickly to changes in technology and workflow.

To apply, go here.