Breaking News Reporter

The Bay Area News Group has an opening for a reporter to join the breaking news team at The Mercury News and East Bay Times.

We are looking for an energetic and resourceful reporter who can balance strong enterprise with the fast-paced news cycle. This reporter will join a team dedicated to covering the biggest daily news stories in a fascinating and diverse region, on topics ranging from public safety and health to weather and wildfires, to name a few.

The ideal journalist for this role will thrive in a fast-paced newsroom, and be able to quickly and accurately report live stories while identifying strong follow-ups. You should be a self-starter, able to cultivate sources, break news, and report on stories that hold public agencies accountable and engage readers about patterns and trends in the Bay Area. There will be opportunities for deeper reporting, but it should be approached with competitive urgency.

Qualifications:
• At least two years of daily journalism experience; breaking news chops are essential, as is some experience with cultivating sources and using public records requests to advance reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to write sharp, clean copy, including headlines and nut graphs that distill why a story needs to be read and shared.
• Digital storytelling experience is also critical, and any candidate should have an intense curiosity for how news is consumed on the internet.
• Comfort working on digital deadlines in a 24/7 news cycle, and the drive to best the competition on a regular basis.

The salary range for this job is $52,000-$65,000, depending on qualifications and experience. Interested? Send your resume, cover letter, and 7-10 clips — including a mix of breaking news, enterprise/feature stories, and an example of how you covered an ongoing story — to breakingjob@bayareanewsgroup.com We can't reply individually to everyone, but we'll get back to you if it looks like you'd be a good fit for our opening.