Categories: Journo Jobs

Idaho Statesman seeks workplace/economy reporter

The Idaho Statesman seeks a digitally-focused Workplace/Economy Reporter to help expand a revised business beat called Changing Boise (and the Valley).

This beat focuses on the Valley’s explosive growth and the impact on how and where we work. He/she will cover downtown core businesses, tech, influencers, commercial and residential development, job trends and Valley business openings and closings. Making visuals a priority is key to this role. He/she will join two other reporters on the Changing Boise team and developing ideas together is essential.

He/she must be able to develop deeper stories with impact, cover breaking news, shoot photos and videos and engage with our audience in creative ways. Some of this reporter’s work will appear in a monthly tab called Business Insider. Breaking business and development news is also key to the success of this beat, as well as reporting the deeper trend stories.

Our Workplace/Economy Reporter will have a demonstrated commitment to fairness and accuracy, in fact and in tone, and a strong grounding in journalism ethics. And like all journalists at the Statesman, the reporter must have the desire and the skill to build audience loyalty, engagement, and growth around compelling public service journalism.

At the Statesman, the reader comes first, last and always. Serving readers in a crowded media marketplace means becoming the best and most relevant source of journalism that matters to them — and ensuring that it reaches them, wherever they are. This will require a keen understanding of what’s important to readers, developed through reporting on and familiarity with the region; through the use of reader analytics; and through a constant awareness of what people are sharing and talking about on social media. This reporter should have a strong awareness of the changing Valley business environment.

It will require not just the ability to build sources and ferret out facts, but also a talent for framing, writing, shooting, producing and promoting a story via search and social media to ensure that it reaches and resonates with our readers. It will require a commitment to change — to constantly adapting to the ever-evolving ways in which readers seek out and interact with journalism. And it will require enthusiastic participation in ongoing conversations about what’s working and what’s not — and an equally enthusiastic commitment to adapting accordingly.

Requires at least two years’ reporting experience with significant business and/or investigative reporting

Job Requirements

Core competencies:

  • Strong writing skills and excellent news judgment
  • Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
  • Fluency in the science of readership and engagement
  • Ability to tell stories using a variety of tools and platforms, including video
  • Enthusiasm for learning new skills and technologies
  • Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give
    constructive criticism
  • Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, data-driven and constantly
    evolving
  • Intense use and interest in social media for branding, story ideas and content development
  • Being familiar with daily and historic analytics tools to help guide story decisions
  • Staying current on competitors’ coverage

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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