The Nashville Business Journal is seeking an aggressive, resourceful and creative reporter to own the entertainment beat in one of the country’s hottest cities.
This uniquely Nashville beat features all the components that go into building Music City’s brand, which helps support a more than $5 billion tourism industry. You’ll cover storylines like tastemakers opening (and closing) restaurants. You’ll get to know honky-tonk owners and the CEOs of three major-league sports teams. You’ll dodge pedal taverns to dive into the city’s biggest events of the year, including CMA Music Festival and the Music City Grand Prix.
But make no mistake: This is not a fluff beat. Not only is it one of our newsroom’s most-read beats, it sits at the intersection of the biggest issues facing Nashville: How long can Nashville maintain our “It City” status? Is the city truly comfortable with our changing identity, one that doesn’t treat every neighborhood equally? Talented reporters can use this as a launching point to almost any story that deserves telling.
Our reporters are expected to provide forward-looking business intelligence to savvy readers who will use it to grow their businesses and/or advance their careers. Our content gives them a leg up on their competitors, connects them with decision-makers and delineates growth strategies that work from those that don’t. To do that, this reporter must be relentless in chasing news and building relationships with sources. Our ideal candidate has a track record of breaking stories and is allergic to getting beat. He or she must produce high-impact breaking news and compelling enterprise that is rich with perspective and context for Nashville’s business leaders.
Duties
• Report and write short-form and long-form stories for the website and weekly print edition.
• Own the beat, dictating day-to-day coverage and thriving on digging out source-driven exclusives.
• Relentlessly develop sources and manage relationships with high-level executives and other community leaders.
• Scoop competitors on every story of any significance, not only telling them what happened, but why and how.
Skills
• Desire and ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
• Strong analytical and investigative-interviewing skills
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Ability to relate comfortably to a wide range of people, in person, on the phone and online
• A clear drive to develop sources and build audience
• Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure.
• Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates the organization from competitors.
• Multimedia skills, including video, photos, broadcast, on-camera, helpful.
Experience
• 1-3 years reporting in a newsroom
• Track record in the news business of building, maintaining and engaging an audience in print and online.
• Social media mavens held in high regard.
Education
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
If you thrive on a fast-paced environment where you can innovate and lead, we invite you to apply to the award-winning Nashville Business Journal. Send your resume, cover letter and clips that show enterprise and scoops reporting to Beth Hunt, at bzhunt@bizjournals.com
