The Phoenix Business Journal is seeking a reporter to cover economic development and commercial real estate in one of the hottest economies in the country. This beat focuses on several key cities in the Phoenix metro area, known as Valley of the Sun. Phoenix is now the country’s fifth-largest city with a fast-growing population and new jobs being created at a record clip.
As the latest addition to the Business Journal’s expanding economic development/CRE coverage team, this reporter will also focus on key office development trends across the entire region.
The ideal candidate will possess skills such as source building, sharp news judgment, interviewing prowess and scoop-driven reporting. Reporters in our newsroom break stories that sometimes sources don’t want brought to light, but they don’t burn bridges.
The reporter will be expected to own the beat and provide forward-looking business intelligence to our readers. This means finding news at city halls, county courthouses or other public entities and then speaking to private-sector sources about the business ramifications of what’s in the site-selection pipeline. Relationships with elected officials, government employees, economic development leaders, real estate executives and economists are critical to the success of this beat.
Job responsibilities
• Report and write short and long-form stories across all platforms
• Own the beat, dictating day-to-day coverage and thriving on digging out source-driven exclusives
• Relentlessly develop sources and manage relationships with high-level executives and other community leaders
• Work in concert with two other CRE reporters to coordinate coverage and work on joint projects.
Skills and experience
• Desire and ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
• A keen interest in business journalism
• Strong analytical and investigative-interviewing skills
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Ability to relate comfortably to a wide range of people, in person, on the phone and online
• A clear drive to develop sources and build audience
• Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
• Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that resonates with the Business Journal audience
• 1-3 years reporting in a newsroom environment desired
• Track record in the news business of building, maintaining and engaging an audience
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
Send resume and clips via email to Greg Barr, Editor in Chief, Phoenix Business Journal at gbarr@bizjournals.com
