City Reporter
The Island Packet in Columbia, SC, is seeking an aggressive journalist who can deliver exclusive reporting on city government. We seek a strong journalist who excels at watchdog and accountability reporting and can handle in-depth work and research as well as breaking news.
We are seeking a journalist with a demonstrated commitment to fairness and accuracy, in fact and in tone, and a strong grounding in journalism ethics. All journalists at the Packet must demonstrate the desire and skills to build audience loyalty, engagement and growth around compelling public service journalism.
At the Packet, the reader comes first, last and always. Serving readers in a crowded media marketplace means becoming the best and most relevant source of journalism that matters to them -- and ensuring that our work reaches them, wherever they are. This will require a keen understanding of what’s important to local readers, developed through reporting on and familiarity with the region; through the extensive use of reader analytics such as social media referrals and time spent on a story; and through a constant awareness of what people are sharing and talking about on social media.
It will require not just the ability to build sources and ferret out facts, but also a talent for framing, writing, shooting, producing and promoting a story via search and social media to ensure that it reaches and resonates with our readers. It will require a demonstrated commitment to change -- to constantly adapting to the ever-evolving ways in which readers seek out and interact with journalism. And it will require enthusiastic participation in ongoing conversations about what’s working and what’s not -- and an equally enthusiastic commitment to adapting accordingly.
Minimum requirements:
- Strong writing and reporting skills and excellent news judgment
- Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
- Demonstrated ability to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to reach audiences
- Fluency in the science of readership and engagement, including an understanding of how to use analytics such as page views, time on site, referral sources and “shares and likes” to help determine which stories resonate with which audiences
- A demonstrated ability to tell stories using a variety of tools and platforms, including video
- A demonstrated ability to learn new skills and technologies, including content management systems; social media platforms; video editing software; Omniture, CrowdTangle and other analytics tools; and any emerging storytelling tools and platforms
- Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give constructive criticism. The new workflows require constant conversations between reporters and editors and between reporters and their audience as a story evolves.
- Demonstrated ability to work comfortably in a job that will be fast-paced, data-driven, shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation and always evolving
- Journalism degree preferred.
- Reliable transportation
- Valid driver’s license
- Vehicle insurance with at least the minimum insurance coverage required for the state in which you will be working.
To Apply: Please include work samples or a link to your online portfolio.
Check out some of the stories our journalist are sharing https://www.islandpacket.com/
Learn a little about us: http://bit.ly/This_Is_McClatchy