The Modesto Bee seeks a breaking news reporter who enjoys waking up in the morning ready to pounce on news. Modesto is a vibrant news town, and this reporter has a huge role in determining how we cover stories in the heart of California’s Central Valley. The position calls for moving with urgency, and it offers great opportunities to go deep and develop enterprise work off the news. In this role, you get to start and finish.
The reporting is fast-paced, competitive and rewarding. The opportunities are vast, from critical breaking crime news to meaningful stories that touch every aspect of life in California. When big news happens, this reporter not only kicks it off, but also plays a key role in working with a team of editors and reporters in our collaborative, award-winning newsroom. Crime, wildfires, floods — breaking news provides the fulcrum on a variety of fronts, be they criminal justice, health, business, government, schools, sports or, yes, fun.
In this role, you will need to:
- Be competitive, urgent and productive. Report and write quickly and thoroughly.
- Understand our breaking news protocols.
- Be first, be accurate, be smart.
- Develop connections with key sources we rely on for information, and expand that network to produce complete stories.
- Focus on our audiences’ interests and needs first and always, with a commitment to tactics that grow readership.
- Develop engaging multimedia storytelling.
- Demonstrate a command of audience analytics and knowledge of the tactics that deliver results.
- Demonstrate speed, competitiveness and SEO savvy.
- Work closely with editors, and collaborate with visual editors and our audience growth team.
- Work well in a team environment.
The successful candidate should meet the following requirements:
- Two years of journalism experience.
- Strong reporting and writing skills, excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers.
- Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism.
- Ability to work collaboratively to aggressively tackle stories.
- Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving.
- College degree or equivalent work experience.
The anticipated base pay range for this position is between $24 and $29 per hour. Individual base pay may vary within that range depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, relevant education, department equity, training, geography and local wage and hours laws.
To apply, include a cover letter, your resume and four to six examples of your work.
For further information click here.
