Business Reporter

At the Business Observer, business journalism isn’t dead. Far from it.

We are building our breaking news team — and on the hunt for a reporter with a nose for news in our coverage area: nine counties on the Gulf Coast of Florida, from Tampa and Lakeland to Fort Myers and Naples.

The Business Observer, part of the Sarasota-based Observer Media Group, has a mission to inform its readers, and to help them find what they need — whether it be details on a lawsuit, the latest transactions or insight from industry leaders — to make better decisions and be better at business. We report on the region’s industry and economic trends; emerging companies; corporate strategies; identifying and profiling the region’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs and top business leaders; and how government intersects with business.

Another way of saying that: The competition reports what happened. We report on what happened — and why it matters to our readers, who are entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, educators and other influential decision-makers. Before putting pen to paper, we ask ourselves, “What does the boss need to know?” That’s the crux of a Business Observer story.

On top of that, we have an internal mantra of digital first. So while we are a weekly in rhythm, and our print product is important, we prioritize getting news online.

Our business news reporter will take all that in and then build the beat from there, working in sync with the small-but-mighty team of experienced editors and reporters. That could be a $100 million building sale on Monday in Tampa, an inside look/scoop at a new restaurant in Sarasota on Tuesday and a bankruptcy in Fort Myers on Wednesday.

The Business Observer’s business news reporter will track down these stories and more. The goal is to use a combination of digital reporting — databases, public records, county clerks and more — and old-fashioned, person-to-person source building.

Must-haves include:

A creative approach to getting the story, and knowing when to go around roadblocks, a.k.a. be a problem solver.
A GOYA (get off your a—) approach to reporting.
A skilled writer, fluent in all things AP Style
A good team player. (This is no cliche — we don’t use cliches!) We have a team of four and everyone is willing to step in and up when needed.
A hard worker not afraid to try new things
Someone obsessed with improvement, an unparalleled commitment to excellence and a willingness to learn

Interested? Email a resume, cover letter and three to- five published clips to Managing Editor Mark Gordon at mgordon@businessobserverfl.com. Please put "news reporter" in the subject line.