Miami Herald seeks tourism business reporter

This reporter will be a self-starter who explores news and trends in cruising, air travel, hotels and attractions as they relate to the South Florida market.

S/he breaks news related to local companies and local interests, with an emphasis on stories that affect consumers. On this fast-paced beat, this requires staying abreast of developments by monitoring releases, social media and Google alerts, and posting online quickly to capitalize on digital traffic.

The ability to develop balanced working relationship and sources both within and outside major companies is essential. Through sources, local companies, trade organizations, data and government reports, this reporter also identifies trends relevant to local workers and employers, and examines those in enterprise stories that delve beneath the surface and beyond the predictable.

Among The Questions S/he Will Ask

• What new and/or changing consumer offerings are available to South Floridians in terms of cruising, hotels, attractions and flights? How do those fit within a broader context of travel offerings? How might they affect the local economy or tourism industry?
• How do hotels, cruise lines, airlines and attractions positively and negatively impact local wages, jobs and economy?
• What conditions, government policies and practices affect worker and guest safety and comfort?

This beat requires 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 Herald, this reporter must demonstrate the desire and skills to build audience loyalty, engagement and growth around compelling public service journalism.

This reporter is expected to not only have the ability to build sources and ferret out facts, but frame, write, produce and promote a story via search and social media to ensure that it reaches and resonates with our readers.

The successful candidate must show competency with analyzing data and working with social media tools like CrowdTangle in prospecting for stories.

Essential qualities include flexibility and a demonstrated commitment to constantly adapting to the ever-evolving ways in which readers seek out and interact with journalism. Like all reporters at the Miami Herald, this one will regularly engage with her/his editor to evaluate stories based on audience and mission to determine what is, and isn’t, worth pursuing.

On Audience

• • Who cares about this (or who should)?
  • Is this a big enough group to make the idea worth pursuing the way it is framed?
  • Is there a way to extend/expand interest in this subject or information to make the group big enough?
  • If the group is small, is it influential enough to allow the story to have significant impact?

On Mission

• • Will the story break news that holds leaders or institutions accountable?
  • Will the story break news that makes a concrete difference in the community?
  • Will the story tell readers how something will directly affect their lives or the lives of their families or friends?
  • Will the story use extraordinary, revelatory story-telling to help readers understand a consequential societal issue in new ways?
  • Will the story (or sometimes a series of quick hits in the cases of breaking news) attract an extraordinary amount of readership or engagement because it is of great interest and/or value to our readers for other reasons?

Pluses include familiarity with the local region, personal or professional travel and/or cruise experience, data-reporting skills and Spanish-language skills.

This position reports to Business Editor Jane Wooldridge.

Minimum Requirements

• Strong writing and reporting skills and excellent news judgment
• Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
• Demonstrated ability to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to reach audiences
• Fluency in the science of readership and engagement, including an understanding of how to use analytics
• A demonstrated ability to tell stories using a variety of tools and platforms, including photos and video
• A demonstrated ability to learn new skills and technologies, including emerging storytelling tools and platforms
• Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give constructive criticism.
• A collaborative approach and ability to coordinate and work effectively with other newsroom journalists
• Demonstrated ability to work comfortably in a job that will be fast-paced, data-driven, shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation and always evolving

To apply, go here.