Summary
Description
Newspaper in Southwest Colorado seeks education/business reporter.
The Durango Herald, an award-winning newspaper in spectacular Southwest Colorado, is hiring a reporter to cover education and business across the region.
Experienced and enterprising reporters are preferred. We want a reporter who is digitally minded, ambitious and hardworking to cover K-12, higher education and the business community. Reporters at The Durango Herald are focused on readership and a growing online audience. We publish three printed editions per week in Durango and one per week in Cortez. A full-time photographer and videographer is on staff, but reporters frequently are required to provide photos for their stories.
Durango is one of the most sought-after outdoor locations in the country, where the mountains meet the desert, with an unrivaled four-season climate. It offers uncrowded access to a national forest, regional ski areas, two major rivers, a four-year college, breweries, acres of open space, a vibrant arts and music scene, and a unique dining and nightlife scene.
The Durango Herald is part of the family-owned Ballantine Communications Inc. BCI, which owns and operates The Durango Herald, The Journal in Cortez and The Tri-City Record in Farmington, N.M.
Essential Responsibilities:
-
Perform research on different topics;
-
Analyze and interpret findings by breaking down data;
-
Uncover newsworthy stories;
-
Interview key people (witnesses, sources etc.);
-
Write content with readers needs in mind;
-
Ensure your pieces are accurate and objective;
-
Establish contacts and sources to use in future research;
-
Maintain notes in written or electronic form;
-
Contribute to content idea generation for publication;
-
Stay up-to-date with local, national and international affairs;
-
Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
-
Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications, or related field.
-
Experienced and enterprising reporters are preferred. We want a reporter who is digitally minded, ambitious and hardworking to cover K-12, higher ed and the business community.
-
Multimedia/social media knowledge and experience.
-
Broadly applied software including Google products, and photography skills (video skills preferred but not required).
-
English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
-
Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
-
Telecommunications — Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Pre-employment Screening Requirements: Position is subject to satisfactory completion of a background check and reference check. A valid driver’s license is also required for this position.
Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This is a largely sedentary role. Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic). While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard. Reach, stoop, kneel to install computer equipment. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.
Work Environment:
Reporters spend a lot of time in the field, conducting interviews and investigating stories. They travel to be on location for events or to meet contacts and file stories remotely. When not in the field, Reporters will be in an office environment.
Please email resume, cover letter and five (5) samples of your work, including at least one breaking news story, at least one feature story and at least one business-related story to Managing Editor Shane Benjamin, shane@durangoherald.com.
