Job description

About us:

The Spokesman-Review is a family-owned newspaper where your talent will come to the fore in reporting on the mom-and-pops that are the heart of small business as well as tech startups and entrepreneurs that garner seed funding from around the globe. Our staff's coverage of a dynamic and ever-diversifying Spokane-area economy runs the gamut from small to big business.

The Spokane area is thriving with six area colleges, including national basketball powerhouse Gonzaga University. The city has a growing arts community, flourishing local food scene, fantastic hiking, and other outdoor activities, and is surrounded by picturesque lakes and rivers in every direction. Spokane is home to 87 parks, including a 100-acre park in the center of town that includes one of the largest urban waterfalls in the nation. The Spokesman-Review was an early adopter of philanthropic-based journalism and has received four Report for America positions over the past five years. The newsroom’s popular event series, Northwest Passages, hosts prominent and top-selling authors, with the forums funding a significant portion of the newsroom’s payroll and projects. The Spokesman-Review’s recently renovated newsroom still is housed in the newspaper's nearly 140-year tower building in downtown Spokane.

Position: Business Reporter

Status: Full-time, Non-exempt

Salary: $42,000-$47,000/yr.

Hours:​ Monday – Friday, 9-6

Location: Spokane, WA

About this role: This position serves to contribute to The Spokesman-Review’s mission to inform its audience through accurate, thorough, helpful, fair and lively reporting and writing about business-related issues in our area. This includes the day-to-day newsy business briefs or short stories and the longer in-depth stories of business leaders, transactions, potential developments and business and industry.

Our next business reporter will have demonstrated ability in source development and beat coverage. You'll also be a deft storyteller with a knack for conveying an issue's impact on the average citizen or consumer.

One of the state's largest utilities is based in Spokane and the city is a health care hub that not only boasts several hospitals, but also private and publicly traded companies involved in groundbreaking research.

Homebuyers and -sellers look to our coverage of one of America’s hottest real estate markets of the past two years, while our stories provide insight into development of a growing metropolitan area and a downtown skyline dotted with cranes.

​What you'll do:

• Prepare accurate, fair, balanced and carefully researched stories and multimedia posts to meet assigned deadlines.
• Build strong sources within the identified ‘beat’, extending beyond just official sources. Be able to keep the beat fresh with new ideas. Stay ahead of stories, anticipate changes, and write/publish those stories ahead of competitors. Clearly understand the beat to write with authority.
• Demonstrate appropriate focus on stories that matter to our audience and to the public record, using identified Key Performance Indicators made available to help you to improve story relevance to audience.
• Able to stay ahead and out front of the competition, local or national competitors, specifically on the primary ‘beat’ with regards to key daily and enterprise stories.
• Willing and able to localize a national story when appropriate and do it quickly when needed.
• Write at least seven (7) stories a week, with at least five (5) that are published in our print edition. Maintain a standard of at least 8,000 weekly online page views.
• Finished stories should be clear and concise; self-edit for clean copy that can be posted quickly when needed for competitive reasons.
• Able to take photos, shoot simple video or record audio – or anything that can easily be done with a mobile phone – that will help tell the story or serve our readers; not relying solely on staff photographers for mug shots, especially those that will only run once.
• Able to grow the total size of your journalism’s audience; ensuring stories have appropriate headlines, especially for the website, adapting to the changes in circulation and growth opportunities with our digital audience. Key indicators are the amount of times readers continue to turn to your stories and the amount of time your audience spends with your stories.
• Utilize art possibilities for every story, both in print and online, to increase and improve audience engagement; pull in graphics, design, photo and online team members so they can gain a better understanding of the story, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate ability to seek out and act quickly on story opportunities on all platforms used by our news organization. Effectively follow through on stories, including interacting in a professional capacity with readers after publication through comments or other engaging tools. This means using those avenues to find follow-up information and expand on stories.
• Utilize social media and other promotional tools to maximize audience exposure to your journalism ensuring covered stories are viewed and shared more than competitor stories.
• Pitch stories for newspaper’s front page and homepage when appropriate.
• Promote and participation in events designed to promote public awareness and readership of The Spokesman-Review.
• Participate and provide positive experiences at company events as a liaison with key audiences/stakeholders such as community members, readers, service providers, donors, etc
• Other duties as assigned.

What you'll contribute to our team:

• Bachelor's degree (B.A.) in Journalism from a four-year college or university, or equivalent experience.
• Valid Driver’s License
• Create a positive attitude that cultivates a sense of camaraderie and chemistry in our newsroom that helps us not only achieve our goals but exceed them. This positivity is essential as we focus on helping our newspaper go forward with strategies aimed at our longtime survival
• Proficient in the use of a computer and smartphone, including use of Newsgate and Django content management systems
• Demonstrate ability to create hyperlinks, attach photos, understand SEO and Key Performance Indicators
• Ability to use a smartphone to file stories and multimedia from the field and to stay current with news events
• Demonstrate social media skills on Twitter, Facebook, and any emerging social media networks to both promote and enhance your journalism
• Regular attendance is required as well as punctuality for assigned meetings, work shifts, and interviews.
• Ability to work in adverse conditions and unusual schedules when news breaks
• Must understand and uphold the standards, ethics, and mission of journalism at The Spokesman-Review on all platforms
• Premium on organizational skills, able to meet changing deadlines, deal with multiple stories at once, keep supervisors abreast of developments, and work with other staff members on stories
• Read The Spokesman-Review, both in print and online, and stay current with all relative news sources
• Maintain a high degree of professionalism in representing The Spokesman-Review, always striving for fairness and accuracy

What we offer: We are a family-owned and operated multi-business organization with a heart for the community we serve and our employees. We set you up for success by providing the necessary tools and training needed to succeed in your position! We provide: A friendly, supportive, and professional team atmosphere. Competitive wages and benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K matching, Employee Assistance Programs, and so much more! We believe work/life balance is key to continued success, we offer Vacation days, Sick Time, Paid Holidays, and Floating Holidays!

For detailed information regarding benefits, vacation, sick, and holiday time, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/baag-jobs

What Next?

Create your candidate profile at https://careers.cowlesco.com, complete all required fields, and upload any supporting documents such as a resume, cover letter, references, and examples of work! At the end of your profile creation, simply pick the position(s) you would like to apply for and press "submit." It's that easy!

If you already have a company profile, log in and update your information where necessary, and apply to the open requisition.

If you need assistance with creating or logging into your candidate profile, please email careers @ cowlesco.com and an HR representative will respond as quickly as possible.

Cowles Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All candidates selected for hire will be required to submit to a background check. Drug Testing applies to safety-sensitive positions.

Position open until filled.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $42,000.00 - $47,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Weekend availability

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Spokane, WA 99201: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Education:

• Bachelor's (Preferred)

Experience:

• Journalism: 3 years (Required)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Work Location: One location

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