The Portland Business Journal is looking for a reporter who can own coverage of issues related to manufacturing and sustainability in Oregon and southwest Washington, including clean energy, natural resources and agriculture.
This reporter must generate daily news stories for digital newsletters, curate content for a twice-weekly sustainability newsletter and contribute to our weekly print edition. Print contributions include a weekly reporter page, cover stories and other standing features.
Duties: While the Business Journal publishes a weekly print edition, we are very much a daily news operation. This reporter must own the beat and become the go-to source in the region for news, data and perspective. The top mission: to own audience, by every measure in print, digital and social.
To accomplish this, this reporter must be aggressive and competitive. He or she must be able to build and maintain deep source networks that enable him or her to break news and follow up with analysis and fresh story angles. Scoops matter. A lot. So does the confidence to interpret news with authority.
The reporter must also be capable and comfortable delivering news across multiple platforms. Social media competency is a must.
To this end, reporters are expected to break important hard news online and use print to tell the story behind the headlines, providing deeper analysis of newsworthy events. Whatever the platform, we strive to produce content – original and curated – that is accompanied by perspective and context.
REQUIRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
- Bachelors degree or equivalent experience
- Minimum of 2 years of journalism experience with a proven ability in reporting and writing
- Ability to work independently and remotely
- Ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
- Strong writing, analytical and investigative interviewing skills
- Ability to relate comfortably to a wide range of people, in person and online and to develop sources and an audience
- Competitive, collaborative, curious
- Proven experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience
- Ability to work independently under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately
- Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
- Mastery of social media and digital interaction
- Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates the organization from competitors
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Duties and Responsibilities, work schedules and/or location may change based on evolving business needs
- Own the beat audience.
- Own the beat conversation.
- Build source network relentlessly.
- Attend both Business Journal and industry related events. When relevant to their beats, reporters must work in partnership with the publisher, editor in chief and event director to select speakers and topics that will grow event attendance and audience. Reporters will be expected to facilitate/moderate at Business Journal events and must be comfortable in taking a leading role in the community.
- Work collaboratively with editors, photographers, designers and others to maximize the impact and accessibility of stories reported.
- Contribute two to four online posts – curated and original – per day.
- Develop and curate a reporter page/section spread in the print paper each week; this spread is comprised of information, highlights and data gathered and reported on throughout the week, then packaged and advanced for the print product.
- Meet or exceed goals relating to audience-engagement such as page views, unique users, repeat visits, direct traffic, social media followings and growth, paid print subscribership, email newsletter circulation growth, event attendance, and other such measures.
- Take on any other assignment made by manager(s).
- Work cooperatively and collaboratively with all colleagues and professionally with sources.
TO APPLY: Send resume and 4 to 6 writing samples, including both long-form enterprising articles and digital posts, to Editor Suzanne Stevens, sstevens@bizjournals.com. Please copy Managing Editor Erik Siemers, esiemers@bizjournals.com and Digital Managing Editor Andy Giegerich, agiegerich@bizjournals.com.
