Philadelphia Inquirer seeks a retail reporter

We’re the Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), the company behind the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com. Our fast-changing newsroom is committed to telling great stories and deepening our connection with the communities we serve. We’re owned by the non-profit Lenfest Institute for Journalism, and we’re at the very center of the mission to create a lasting future for ambitious local journalism.

If people express their priorities by how they spend money, then the retail beat represents one of the newsroom’s best opportunities to tap into what readers care about. Candidates should be able to write engaging stories that plumb this protean beat with panache and help us build a larger audience for these stories online.

This field demands both creativity and analysis. The opportunity is vast with retail ventures starting in kiosks and in startups like eyeglass seller Warby Parker, a Wharton success story. What early efforts would you cover? What would you do with Wawa convenience stores and supermarkets, which are big local favorites? And what precisely is Amazon doing in the mysterious factory it is building in Norristown to disrupt the clothes-making business?

We’d welcome fresh ideas about the King of Prussia mall, the nation’s largest shopping mecca and a hotbed for retail trends. Find out what is cool about retail from the Jersey shore to Walnut Street in Philadelphia and show how retail can change a neighborhood. Describe compelling scenes from companies based here, such as Urban Outfitters, Five Below, Qurate (QVC), Burlington Stores, Destination Maternity and GoPuff.

Some knowledge of finances is helpful; Skill with video storytelling or with alternative story forms is appreciated. A desire to interact with readers is essential. This is a perfect opportunity for someone who is passionate about the business of retail and can use that to peer into region’s psyches.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensure reporting offers a window on the communities we serve, that reflect their spirit, their personalities, their diversity
• Dig for and gather news and information; synthesize it in strong prose
• Cover spot news as needed
• Make use of visual elements to augment storytelling
• Build subject matter expertise and audience around the retail beat and cultivate sources
• Aggregate topical news from other sources and add value
• Use social media both as a reporting tool and as a venue for promoting work

Requirements:

• A minimum of two years of reporting experience for a news organization
• A four-year college degree, or equivalent experience
• Graceful, concise and compelling writing style
• Basic data literacy and analysis skills and ability to build simple charts, graphs, maps with in-house tools
• Ability to gather, edit and post basic video and audio clips
• Basic photo editing skills
• Ability to interpret audience analytics to inform newsgathering decisions

To Apply: Please submit up to five (5) samples of your work.

To apply, go here.