This sports reporter will be responsible for general assignment reporting on a variety of sports-related beats, primarily Baltimore Orioles coverage. We intend to hire a hungry, versatile reporter for this role, which will give us the flexibility to use him or her to easily pivot to the big stories of the moment, regardless of sport or team. We envision this as a high-volume role for a reporter with a keen eye for audience needs and interest.
We are seeking someone who knows how to develop sourcing and use all tools available to connect with our audience, someone who can write the long-form story and the conversational quick hit, someone who understands sports and can deliver insightful content to our readers, and someone who is comfortable with all forms of storytelling.
He or she should be ahead of the news, be an active participant in online communities, be comfortable breaking out of traditional story-forms, and be able to engage with audiences directly online and on camera.
Duties:
- Create digitally engaging sports content, including but not limited to: enterprise/feature reporting, game coverage, off-the-field issues and thoughtful, well-sourced analysis
- Break news, and react quickly to breaking news, getting information out on social media and on baltimoresun.com
- Use social media to build a dedicated audience and drive that audience to The Baltimore Sun
- Work as part of a team to coordinate coverage and ensure we have all compelling angles covered.
- Out-hustle, out-think and out-report the competition.
- Take cell phone video and work with video team to produce compelling video/audio content
- Communicate regularly with an editor to ensure stories are scheduled at the optimal times
Skills/Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in journalism or related subject
- Advanced writing and storytelling chops
- 2-5 years covering a high-level sports beat, both collegiate and professional
- Resourcefulness to find valuable sources when availability of key subjects is limited
- Understanding of what makes a topic newsworthy and/or buzz-worthy
- Ability to shoot video and photos
- Help The Sun reach new audiences to increase the impact of its journalism and position it for growth
The Baltimore Sun is committed to building a diverse newsroom that reflects the people it covers and the audience it serves. Candidates are encouraged to highlight new perspectives they can bring to our team.
To apply:
Email Sports Editor Tim Schwartz (timschwartz@capgaznews.com) a cover letter, resume (as a PDF), references and a list of at least five clips that demonstrate a combination of feature, enterprise and event coverage, as well as any other links that demonstrate how you’d fit in this role. No phone calls, please.
