The Charlotte Observer seeks a local government accountability reporter

The local government reporter is, in essence, a local news reporter with a desire to make meetings, budgets and policy plain and accessible to our readers. This reporter connects communities while unearthing their issues, concerns and interests. With a deep desire to know what is – and isn’t – working, the local government accountability reporter seeks out solutions to Charlotte’s biggest hurdles, such as affordability, housing and public transportation issues.

The local government accountability reporter wants to break news on the beat, as well as develop thoughtful and exclusive enterprise and watchdog stories that are essential to readers, hold leaders and institutions accountable with a strong local source network and regular use of public records.

The reporter is expected to incorporate digital metrics into their decision about what resonates with readers.

The local government reporter will:

Conceive compelling enterprise story ideas, with a clear focus on information that will be of keen interest and relevance to local readers.
Develop a broad range of sources on the beat.
Regularly break exclusive stories.
Understand audience metrics – which of your stories are resonating with readers and which are not? Working with your editor, regularly mine this data for takeaways about how we can build our audience.
Shoot basic video and photos in the field. Work with visuals team to add more sophisticated visuals as a fundamental story-telling tool.
On tight deadlines, write stories that are complete, clear, fair and provide context for readers.

A great candidate will have:

College degree – required.
Must have reliable transportation.
Must have valid driver’s license.
Must have vehicle insurance (at least minimum insurance required for the state in which the employee works).
2+ years digital journalism experience preferred.
Extensive background in journalism, video and online media preferred.
Creativity and independence in identifying concepts and ideas for news stories that are exclusive to The Observer and relevant to readers.
Command of grammar, spelling, Observer and AP style, as well as clear skills in story organization and clear writing.
Strong story-telling ability and excellent news judgment.
Fluency in both the art and science of readership and engagement.
Ability to tell stories using a variety of tools and platforms.
Enthusiasm for learning new skills and technologies.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Expert-level skills at developing and maintaining source networks on a beat.
Skills in using digital research tools to find information.
Expert-level knowledge in use of social networks.
Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in developing and executing long- and short-term projects.
Fluency in Spanish is highly desirable.
Ability to evaluate, analyze and interpret documents, records, information and events.
Ability to spot local, regional or national trends and find ways to make them relevant to Observer readers.
A commitment to accurate, ethical journalism.