Full-Time

Tampa Bay Biz Journal seeks a tech reporter

The Tampa Bay Business Journal is hiring a reporter to cover the dynamic technology, startups and innovation beat and lead the reporting for its sister digital publication Tampa Bay Inno.

The Tampa Bay region is experiencing explosive growth and this reporter will be in the thick of it. Specifically, this reporter will cover Tampa Bay’s startup, technology and innovation economy, producing everything from scoops about established companies, startups and entrepreneurs, to sophisticated analysis of the issues that affect the industry, to savvy, important coverage of the executives, ideas and characters who make it go.

This reporter will work with a collaborative and energetic team to break news for the Tampa Bay Business Journal around a growing technology sector.

In this dual role for Tampa Bay Inno, the reporter will contribute daily news stories, profiles, features and more, and lead our twice-weekly newsletter, The Beat. The successful candidate will also contribute to social media channels and develop a sense of ownership over growing our established audience and brand.Inno, in all of our markets, is an authority on local innovation. The right candidate will be passionate about creating original, in-depth, and engaging editorial and reporting that helps Tampa Bay’s startup community understand the people, deals, and innovations that are shaping the region’s future.

Source development and relationship building are key. The audience for this reporter runs from start-up founders to long-tenured CEOs, executives at every level in between, and everyone who wants to know and/or do business with them.

This reporter will also attend meetups and conduct panel discussions. They will suggest creative new ideas to drive our coverage forward and give our readers the news they need daily.This is an exciting opportunity to build Tampa Bay Inno while being supported by a larger institution.

  • 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 exclusive
  • Relentlessly develop sources and manage relationships with high-level executives and other community leaders.
  • Meet or beat rapid daily and weekly deadlines
  • Scoop competitors on every story of any significance, not only telling them what happened but why and how
  • Understands or is willing to learn the vernacular of the tech and startup world
  • Has a daily voice on social media and is willing to engage readers on LinkedIn
  • Facilitates/moderates panels at Business Journal/Tampa Bay Inno events and must be comfortable taking a leading role in the community.
  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
  • Desire and ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
  • Competitive, collaborative, and curious
  • Strong analytical and investigative-interviewing skills
  • Strong communication skills and deft writing and reporting chops
  • 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
  • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
  • Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics, and story structure.
  • Ability to mine data and work with spreadsheets
  • Is comfortable making and tracking public record requests and sees them as fertile ground for enterprise reporting
  • Understands the imperatives of multiple platforms – print, mobile, Internet, etc.
  • Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates the organization from competitors.
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Multimedia skills, including video, photos, broadcast, and on-camera
  • 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.

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