Gannett seeks a business reporter in South Jersey

Seeking an enterprise reporter to help cover Burlington County and report on issues related to business and the economy in the South Jersey region, with the position based in our Westampton, NJ office. We want a storyteller with keen observational skills and the ability to navigate data trends and develop sources. This reporter will be expected to spend time in our various communities regularly, building relationships and discovering meaningful stories that break new ground.

Burlington County is a large, diverse county that includes urban, suburban and rural communities, large swaths of farmland, a joint military base and an audience of loyal readers eager for the stories that put context to the issues impacting their lives. The right journalist wants to find sources in neighborhoods, not just government offices and is driven to deliver news that matters.

This position will also be responsible for broadening our coverage of business and economic issues in the South Jersey region, which includes readers of the Burlington County Times, Courier Post, and the Daily Journal. This beat is not about board rooms and executive suites. It’s about how decisions made impact the workforce, about how businesses in South Jersey affect everyday life, the struggles and successes of the local economy and the developing trends. This beat depends on enterprise journalism and a reporter who understands how to turn curiosity into content.

 The right candidate is prepared to uncover and deliver stories large and small that put these topics in context. An awareness of issues of equality, race, religion, age, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation are key to success. We are seeking someone who can identify these stories, champion new and often unheard voices in the community, and take readers to places they’ve never been through sophisticated storytelling on all platforms.

 This reporter will be expected to write quick-turnaround stories, signature enterprise pieces and occasional profiles. Spanish-speaking skills are a plus. The ideal candidate will be comfortable pursuing big stories on their own but also eager to collaborate and communicate across the newsroom’s various teams.

Responsibilities:

• Create news content that captures and engages the audience, using metrics and past performance to inform and guide your storytelling approach
• Develop a deep source list within the community that includes real people, professionals, public officials and community groups and organizations
• Understand how to request public documents and accurately interpret them for inclusion in meaningful storytelling
• Identify trending stories that matter for our audience and develop unique storytelling that separates our coverage from our competitors’
• Work with the Regional News Director to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and hone your storytelling
• Collaborate with colleagues in and out of the South Jersey newsrooms to strengthen your storytelling, including additional reporting, photos, videos, etc.
• Capture photos and video as needed
• Use social media in an engaging, professional manner that promotes your personal brand, the brands of colleagues and the institutional brand
• Demonstrate ability to develop, tweak and hone headlines and social media chatter to reach more of our loyal audience

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Combination of education and experience relevant to journalism
• Strong communication, planning and organizational skills
• Exposure to and success in a deadline-driven environment
• Social-media and SEO knowledge
• Comfort with self-guided work as well as collaborative production
• Command of journalism skills that lead to developing fair, balanced and accurate content in a publish-ready state

We want to know more about you and how you’ll bring your energy and excitement to the job. Tell us what’s not on your resume that makes you the journalist we need to bring into the newsroom. Put together a single document, preferably in a PDF format, that includes the following, in order:

• Your resume, limited to one or two pages
• A cover letter outlining your approach to journalism, how you’ll bring that to the job and what you know about South Jersey
• Links to three to five online examples of your work that highlight your range in storytelling and offer insight on what you would bring to the team

To apply, go here.