McClatchy seeks a service journalism reporter – bilingual preferred

McClatchy is looking for a collaborative, reader-focused reporter for our Northwest service journalism team, whose mission is to help local readers navigate life and the news.

This service journalist will report and write to answer reader questions, dig into local curiosities and issues, use engagement tools like Google Trends to surface high-interest topics, and contribute to projects and breaking news events.

This reporter must be ready to move with agility when the news demands. The successful candidate for this position will be able to take assignments and cultivate and pitch ideas. As such, this reporter must have good time management skills and be organized, with the ability to work independently.

Experience with audience growth and engagement tactics such as headline writing and SEO is a must. Expertise in a particular subject area is not required, but the successful candidate will bring a deep understanding of what’s important to local readers, preferably earned by working as part of a local news outlet.

The Northwest service desk works as a team to write across newsrooms: The Bellingham Herald, The News Tribune in Tacoma, The Olympian, the Tri-City Herald and the Idaho Statesman.

This position will be based in the Bellingham, Washington, area and serve as the team’s primary service journalist for that newsroom. The reporter in this role will report to the regional Northwest service journalism team editor.

In this role, you will need to:

• Have strong writing and reporting skills, as well as excellent news judgment and journalism ethics.
• Think about our audiences first and always, with a commitment to tactics that grow readership.
• Have a passion for the written word as well as video, audio and motion graphics
• Demonstrate speed, competitiveness and SEO savvy through aggregating and storytelling tools.
• Work well in a team environment.
• Data reporting experience is a plus.
• Must have reliable transportation. Must have a valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance required (at least minimum insurance required for the state in which the employee works).

Education & experience:

• College degree or equivalent work experience.
• At least 1-3 years of reporting experience.

The anticipated base pay range for this position is between $21.64 and $26.45 per hour.  

When applying, include a persuasive cover letter, your resume and four to six examples of your best work.

For further details click here.