Reporter

The South Florida Business Journal is hiring a reporter to cover the dynamic hospitality beat. South Florida has one of the most thriving hospitality sectors in the nation and this reporter will be in the thick of it.

The SFBJ’s hospitality reporter will work with a scrappy, collaborative and energetic team to break news on the region’s sprawling tourism sector, including cruise lines, airlines, restaurants, retailers and hospitality-related real estate deals.

We believe that businesses don’t make business news, people do. That means there is a huge emphasis on building relationships to establish a rapport with top power players, and market leaders across this essential beat.

This reporter will be expected to break news ahead of the competition and build a solid pipeline of enterprise ideas and relentlessly grow their source base.

This often entails finding news at city halls, county courthouses or through public records searches and then tracking down the private-sector sources who know most about the business ramifications of what’s in play.

The Business Journal writes and reports stories that readers can’t find elsewhere and are willing to pay for.

Business Journal reporters are expected to contribute shorter and long-form stories for the website and weekly paper. Reporters must own their beat and dictate day-to-day coverage. To bring in source-driven scoops, reporters are expected to be vigilant networkers and relationship managers. Our best stories come from people, not press releases. Scoops matter — a lot — and on top of that, readers demand to not only know what is happening but why and how. You break hard news that sometimes sources don't want brought to light, but you never burn bridges.

The ideal candidate:

Is a self-starter who is open to collaboration
Writes with authority and flair
Can develop a solid network of sources; keeps pushing for new sources
Understands or is willing to learn the vernacular of the banking and finance industry
Has a daily voice on social media and is willing to engage readers on LinkedIn
Is comfortable with virtual work software such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom; and
Is comfortable with mining data and public records
Is comfortable with spreadsheets
Is comfortable making and tracking public record requests and sees them as fertile ground for enterprise reporting
At least 3 years of journalism experience
Proven excellence in reporting and writing
Desire and ability to break news and to identify newsworthy events and sources
Strong analytical and investigative-interviewing skills
Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
Ability to relate comfortably to a wide range of people, in person, on the phone and virtually
A clear drive to develop sources and build audience
Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates the organization from competitors
Multimedia skills, including video, photos, broadcast, on-camera, helpful
Track record of building, maintaining and engaging a high-level audience in person, in print and online
Social media mavens held in high regard
A knowledge of tourism and hospitality is a plus
Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience