Soaps Reporter

Metro Soaps is expanding and we are looking for a Soaps Reporter to join the thriving team, bring passion and expertise to our audience and contribute to our continuing growth.

Metro brings news, sport, analysis, features, opinion and everything in between to a fast-growing global audience. This is an exciting time to join us as we shape the news product vision to strengthen Metro’s position as a must-visit news and entertainment platform.

About the role

Metro’s Soaps team is a leader in the industry, providing news, exclusives, insights, interviews and strong, enthusiastic and reliable content to a passionate audience.

Covering everything from the latest spoilers and previews through to opinion-led reviews and analysis, we are known for our expert knowledge in all soaps and serial dramas loved by UK fans.

Building and maintaining strong relationships is key, and connecting with our readers on every level is our priority, and something we excel at.

The role of soaps reporter is busy and varied and demands flexibility and a pro-active approach with fresh ideas.

It is also extremely rewarding and enjoyable; you will be joining a friendly team and be able to instil your love of the genre into everything that you do.

Soaps content is a central part of Metro’s ongoing growth strategy and you will be contributing significantly to the site and brand as a whole.

Key responsibilities

Be an enthusiastic member of a hard-working team, creating content including reviews, previews, news stories, spoiler articles, interviews, exclusives and more
Work with contacts and directly with soaps and their casts to ensure exclusive content and interviews
Maintain a strong and up-to-date knowledge of all soaps and find key lines from episodes
Bring fresh ideas and pitch stories and features – and be comfortable pitching them to Soaps team and in conference
Work closely with SEO, social and third-party platforms to ensure Metro’s quality content is optimised and reaching audiences across the UK and beyond
Monitor performance of content and continually optimise for success
Attend set visits, press events and online interviews and junkets, targeting key lines and gathering video content
Get to know our audience, interacting with them where appropriate and developing ideas around what they enjoy
Build on Metro’s healthy Soaps community, improving strategy around communication while growing our commenting audience
Contribute to growth strategy across several platforms, including social video
Assist team in organising and hosting real-life panels and soaps events

About you

3+ years experience working within a fast-paced newsroom environment
Ability to work flexibly and produce engaging, accurate, expert-led content
Strong knowledge and enjoyment of the key UK soaps, including Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Casualty, Neighbours and wider serial dramas
Understanding of the Metro voice and the content and tone of the soaps section
Strong interpersonal skills to work within Soaps team and wider Metro team, including leadership, social, SEO and platform audience
Understanding of SEO principles and approaches to social media
Established contacts and ability to build and maintain further relationships
A strong eye for exclusives and feature opportunities
Strong interpersonal skills to engage with talent, including at interviews and events
Fast turnaround on pressing news stories, putting Metro ahead of competitors with the best lines
Able to find the Metro angle in all content
A strong love for the genre and an infectious passion and enthusiasm for it
Flexibility to work evening shifts and weekends as required

Desirable

An understanding of third-party platforms including MSN and apple news
Proven experience of using and creating audio and video content
Experience running or hosting live events

About dmg::media

dmg media’s brands deliver highly engaging, trusted content to millions of loyal customers around the globe, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The Mail brand reaches one in two Brits every month and is officially the best-read, most recognised, most engaged newsbrand in the country.*

Together, Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Mail+, Metro, Metro.co.uk, i and inews.co.uk reach more than 10.1m people daily in the UK.*

Globally, dmg media’s brands reach 190M unique browsers every month across its domains and apps.**

Our newsbrands maintain an unwavering commitment to uncovering the stories that matter most to our readers, ensuring that we remain experts at delivering relevant and insightful content.

In October, the Mail became the largest news publisher on TikTok with over 7- million followers.