State Politics Reporter
The Idaho Statesman in Boise, Idaho, is looking for a state politics and public health reporter to join our accountability team. This reporter also serves as one of our three investigative reporters.
The state politics reporter focuses on accountability journalism, serving as a fearless watchdog of state government. They will provide fast context to big breaking news stories and also be able to produce quick-turnaround enterprise stories as well as longer-term pieces. This reporter is skilled in obtaining public records and also is comfortable obtaining and analyzing data sets as part of their reporting. This reporter is a self-starter and is also comfortable in a collaborative setting to work with other reporters and visual journalists.
The reporter must have a demonstrated commitment to fairness and accuracy, in fact and in tone, and a strong grounding in journalism ethics. They must have the ability to build reader loyalty, engagement and growth around compelling public service journalism.
We are a digitally focused news organization, so it’s critical that applicants have a strong understanding of SEO, social media and how to use digital elements (photos, videos, graphics) to complement their reporting.
Education and knowledge: College degree required, as well as a proven track record of producing investigative journalism.
Duties and responsibilities:
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Conceive compelling enterprise story ideas, with a clear focus on information that will be of keen interest and relevance to local readers.
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Develop broad range of sources.
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Be a master of social media – both as a news-gathering tool and as a way to push the news out quickly and build our audience, as well as your own brand.
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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.
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Produce basic video and photos in the field. Work with visuals team to add more sophisticated visuals as a fundamental story-telling tool.
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On tight deadlines, write stories that are complete, fair and provide context for readers.
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Write and report on a continuous-news cycle, publishing to digital platforms as well as print.
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Use social networks to seek story ideas, report in real time and connect with the community.
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Meet departmental goals: Help formulate goals and actively seek to meet them.
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Participate in training sessions offered and seek out learning opportunities to keep skills updated in a continuously evolving industry.
- Must have reliable transportation. Must have valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance required (at least minimum insurance required for the state in which the employee works).
McClatchy is committed to providing equal employment opportunity (EEO) for all applicants and employees. McClatchy considers all candidates without regard to basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, medical condition, family care status, pregnancy or physical disability (except where physical fitness is a valid occupational qualification), or any other basis protected by state and federal laws.