Technically Media, a digital media company best known for its local tech economy news site Technical.ly, is hiring a beat reporter for its Baltimore market coverage. We’re seeking someone who is eager to work a beat, file daily and build a network of sources in the region’s emerging business community. A primary tool for reader engagement and determining our effectiveness is the growth of our daily email newsletter product, a core component for the vibrancy of our community of professionals.
Leading with exceptional news and relationship-building instincts, this reporter will work with Technical.ly’s Baltimore market editor to effectively and comprehensively report on the Baltimore region’s tech and innovation economy, which includes the companies, workforce and support system that underpins it. In one day, you might cover the news of a promising health tech startup’s Series A alongside a round of local accelerators with open applications; the next, you might profile a software engineer working remotely from Baltimore for an internationally ubiquitous Big Tech company, speak to grassroots activists pioneering digital equity solutions or attend a summit for social enterprises.
We aim to write both for and about an informed technical audience to help them navigate their careers and understand the economic trends shaping their work. Our mission is to make a community better, smarter and more engaged. This reporter will be successful if they’re trusted on their beat and deliver a daily newsletter product with news, information and perspective that is worth reading daily.
The ideal candidate will excel in cultivating source relationships to consistently deliver valuable local business news, quickly and accurately. You should have experience in and a willingness to experiment with new media, as well as an interest in supporting and learning from an experienced journalistic enterprise. Plus, as a small, growing news media startup, we’re probably more fun than your traditional editorial employer.
The Baltimore reporter will report directly to the Baltimore market editor and work closely with our distributed newsroom, which is active daily via Slack. We additionally find regular opportunities to work together in person across our markets. We aim to publish at least three new items per day on each market’s individual sections of the Technical.ly website, four days per week. The reporter in this role should expect to contribute two of those daily, including a mix of reported features, recurring columns and short-form posts emphasizing new and breaking news. Our editors also solicit guest posts and freelance contributions, as well as publish nationally relevant stories across all of our markets daily. There will be regular collaboration and daily coordination with editors and fellow reporters.
This role will operate remotely, but if you’d like, we can place you in a local coworking space. We come together as an entire team quarterly, when public health allows, and do so largely in Philadelphia, where much of the company’s leadership is based.
The person in this role is expected to spend roughly 90% of their time reporting in and around Baltimore, and 10% doing supplementary tasks like supporting strategy, social media engagement and administrative work.
Expected Responsibilities
- File two daily stories, which could include one reported article and one recurring column or breaking news-type article, every day from Monday to Thursday. (Fridays are dedicated to deeper work, including interviews, investigative reporting, heads-down writing, etc.)
- File a daily short-form, first-person note for the Baltimore newsletter, about 100 words. On average, this, combined with the aforementioned two articles, is a total of three daily bylines of varying length and time invested.
- File at least one larger enterprise report monthly, including evergreen, trend or other deeply sourced pieces about the community.
- Work closely with Technical.ly editors to execute overall editorial strategy in the Baltimore region, primarily through its news product, directory, social media properties and the like.
- Grow and support an audience of local technologists and entrepreneurs. You will develop deep insight into how the Baltimore tech economy works and grows.
- Contribute editorial products that support our editorial strategy of connecting growing companies and technical talent, including RealLISTs, the editorial calendar, Power Moves columns and other initiatives.
- Collaborate with our cross-departmental and cross-geographic team.
- Attend and speak at relevant events to raise awareness of our work across Technical.ly markets, as well as build your own stature as a well-sourced reporter.
- Contribute to social media engagement for the Baltimore market, including limited live tweeting, engagement and social sharing on places like the market Twitter handle, community Facebook groups, Reddit, LinkedIn and our public Slack group.
Qualifications
The position is ideal for someone passionate about beat reporting and source development. Bonus points for being inspired by technology and our efforts to build a sustainable model for impactful local journalism. Because we consider ourselves a community company, you must have a drive to be the most connected person in your local tech and entrepreneurship community.
Candidates should likely possess the following qualifications:
- A few years of reporting experience
- Exceptional collaboration and communication skills
- A hunger to be the best-sourced reporter on a beat
- Empathy to ask the “why” of our coverage, supporting our mission to make a community better, smarter and more engaged
- Interest in local and niche communities and serving them with journalism
- Interest in sustainable news by balancing journalism ethics and business model
- An understanding of online content management systems and social media applications is required; experience with WordPress is desirable
- Knowledge of and interest in local and national tech, entrepreneurship and innovation communities
Other Information
- Position includes base salary, roughly $45,000 to $55,000 depending on experience
- Position includes health insurance, including primary care, vision and dental
- Position includes a 401k plan, including a company match of 4% of salary
- Our company hosts an annual team retreat every June and a vision-building annual All-Team Day every December. We also host signature events in our original market, Philadelphia, for which attendance and assistance may be required.
- Position includes Bring-Your-Own-Device reimbursement
- Position is remote/work from home, with the option of a coworking space
Interested individuals should contact Technical.ly Editor Sameer Rao at sameer@technical.ly. Please submit a resume, short letter in the body of an email explaining your interest in the role (with two to three references) and examples of your work. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so the sooner you apply, the better.
