Portland Biz Journal seeks a commercial real estate reporter

This position will be Hybrid in the office/market 3 days per week, and those days can be flexible in consultation with your manager.

Commercial real estate is a priority beat at the Portland Business Journal.

Downtown office vacancies are at a record high, landlords are defaulting on loans, there is a shortage of affordable housing and financing for new projects is difficult to secure. The list of potential stories is long.

The Business Journal’s CRE reporter must be energetic, competitive, nimble and driven to break news derived from deep sourcing, public records and data. Being out in the community, meeting with sources, attending events, scoping out new developments is a must.

The ideal candidate will blend traditional journalism skills – source building, sharp news judgment, interviewing prowess and scoop-driven reporting – with online and social media know-how.

Business Journal reporters have the unique opportunity to write breaking, daily stories as well as long-form explanatory and investigative pieces.

Job Responsibilities

Report and write short-form and long-form stories for the website and weekly print edition.
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.
Scoop competitors on every story of any significance, not only telling them what happened, but why and how.

Skills & Experience

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
Desire and ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
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 differentiates the organization from competitors.
Multimedia skills, including video, photos, broadcast, on-camera, helpful.
Proficient with MS Office Products
Proficient with Web-Based Communication Platforms (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.)

To apply, go here.

Chris Roush

Chris 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.