Reporting Team Leader
The Reporting Team Leader will be a key member of the Olympian team, spending a majority of her or his time telling stories that make a difference in the lives of our readers, hold officials accountable, and unearth the impact of their actions. In Olympia, you’ll be part of a small team that’s passionate about making change through local reporting.
Responsibilities include monitoring local courts and local government.
The successful candidate will have a strong reporting background and fluency in what makes a story a success in the digital space, from good SEO to headline treatment to the ability to shoot your own video.
The position will be primarily a reporting position, however, this reporter will be expected to step in as editor and supervisor when the editor on vacation or is unavailable.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Produce fair and accurate news reports in a hands-on, fast-paced, digital-first news environment.
- Provide beat and accountability reporting on a wide range of local topics while exhibiting excellent news judgment..
- Post to social media.
- Create simple news videos.
- Learn new skills and technologies, including content management systems; social media platforms; video editing software; Chartbeat, CrowdTangle and other analytics tools; and emerging storytelling tools and platforms.
- Provide coaching, line editing and problem-solving when in charge of the newsroom.
REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
- Four-year college degree, preferably in journalism.
- Minimum two (2) years’ experience reporting for a daily news operation.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES:
- Strong working knowledge of libel laws and journalistic ethics.
- Strong writing skills and knowledge of standard journalistic style.
- Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give constructive criticism.
- Work comfortably in a job that will be fast-paced, data-driven, shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation and always evolving.
- Comfortable with a variety of digital publishing tools.
- Able to shoot and produce simple videos as well as still photos.
- Highly organized and able to skillfully prioritize a wide variety of projects so that they are consistently delivered on time and meet our high standard of quality content.
- 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.