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Community Impact · 3 months ago

Senior Government Reporter - Houston Inner Loop

Houston, TX

Full-time

Onsite

Mid, Senior Level

$56K/yr - $56K/yr

2+ years exp

Community Impact is a top news organization dedicated to delivering meaningful local content. The Senior Government Reporter is responsible for providing comprehensive coverage of community stories, managing content production, and mentoring junior reporters.

AdvertisingNewsPublishing

Responsibilities

Access to reliable transportation

Shoot photographs for stories as needed

Contribute ideas for graphics and sidebars for each story

Adhere to Community Impact’s editorial stylebook and AP style guidelines

Generate original story ideas and present them at internal planning meetings

Develop, maintain, and grow a network of news sources and community contacts

Commit to the highest level of accuracy and complete all writing within established deadlines

Beat coverage, including regular in-person meetings of city councils, school boards, or other entities

Represent the company in a professional manner at networking events and other external functions

Interview news sources in person (occasionally from the desk) and from a variety of perspectives to ensure accurate reporting

Investigate, analyze, and interpret newsworthy events within the assigned community to produce and write original, engaging, and content-appropriate news stories and features

Comply with other job-related instructions and perform any other duties the Editor, Managing Editor, General Manager, or any other supervisor(s) consider reasonably related to their primary job responsibilities

Helping produce shared content for the newsroom, metro, and state

Must complete additional training required for additional job responsibilities

As needed:

Copyfitting their own content

Helping copy-edit web stories

Serving as a peer to new CI reporters

Filling in for other writers and understaffed markets

Taking ownership of daily content and newsletter planning

Provide training, including metro trainings or department-wide Lunch & Learns

Copyfitting other reporters’ stories and doing first reads on other writers’ stories, except leads

Taking on the editor’s role in planning meetings, graphic pitches, and any other necessary meetings

Qualification

InterviewingAP StyleContent Management SystemsNews JudgmentStory Idea GenerationOrganizational SkillsTime Management

Required

Experience in interviewing and writing

College degree—preferably in journalism—or related coursework

At least 1 year of experience with Community Impact, including 6 months as Reporter II

At least 2 years of full-time experience with print or digital publication(s), or equivalent experience

Familiarity with AP Style

First-rate reporting and writing skills

Proficiency in writing both hard news and features

Excellent organizational and time-management skills

Ability to hit monthly print and daily digital deadlines

Excellent news judgment and ability to generate story ideas

Ability to learn industry-specific software, including content management systems

Ability to perform assigned job responsibilities in a timely manner with minimal supervision

Access to reliable transportation

Shoot photographs for stories as needed

Contribute ideas for graphics and sidebars for each story

Adhere to Community Impact's editorial stylebook and AP style guidelines