Full-Time

The Messenger seeks a food industry reporter

The Messenger is looking for a reporter to cover national restaurant chains and industrial food conglomerates, from the development of the Impossible Whopper to executive changes and alleged sexual misconduct at McDonald’s, alleged union busting at Starbucks, and everything in between.

This beat will also encompass nationwide food recalls as well as international fights over food imports and exports. The ideal candidates will be able to work fast on breaking news as well as company earnings. They’ll instinctively understand consumer behavior, be able to spot trends in restaurant strategies, evaluate M&As, and cut through company jargon, embargoes, press releases, and SEC filings to find the most important news of the day.

We are looking for reporters with at least three years of experience covering food or a related beat at a real-time or digital news outlet. Ideally, they will have a proven track record of breaking news and working with anonymous sources, as well as writing features. They will have sources inside companies and their competitors, labor unions, and trade groups. They will be equally adept at writing breaking news and longer enterprise stories.

Duties include:

  • Writing accurate headlines and copy in a high-volume, fast-paced environment
  • Writing headlines with an eye toward SEO
  • Cutting through the spin in company press releases
  • Finding news in earnings reports, SEC filings, and court documents
  • Developing sources inside companies, among Wall Street dealmakers, at labor unions, and trade groups.
  • Working closely across teams on high-profile news as it breaks
  • Collaborating with other departments, such as data, photo, and social media to ensure that all content is visually appealing, user-friendly, and optimized for SEO

Qualifications/Requirements:

  • A minimum of three years of experience covering business, earnings, or retail news
  • Proven track record of breaking news and filing or editing stories in a fast-paced, real-time news environment
  • Reporting and writing enterprise stories and/or long-form features
  • A collaborative demeanor with experience working and coordinating with multiple teams and across multiple platforms: social media and digital video
  • The ability to deliver accurate news in a high-volume, deadline-oriented environment
  • Must be able to work a flexible schedule, including mornings, evenings, and/or weekends as news breaks
  • Must be highly motivated, extremely organized, detail-oriented, and possess outstanding communication and coordination skills
  • The job will be based in New York, NY with a hybrid in-office schedule. Remote work will be considered for highly experienced candidates

 

Desired Characteristics:

  • BA or college-level equivalent
  • Experience at a major online news site, daily financial publication, or a large daily newspaper
  • Passionate about digital storytelling and creating the best reader experience online

**Salary Range: $65,000K-$150,000K (contingent upon experience)**

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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