Business & Economic Development Reporter

The Business and Economic Development Reporter covers Springfield area economic news from the perspective of the general public and consumer. The reporter primarily writes news and feature stories on the local economy, workforce, businesses of high interest and those with high impact on how Springfield grows. The reporter also assists with other news and feature coverage as needed.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE
Four-year degree in journalism or related field, or experience commensurate with four-year degree.
Minimum of college journalism or similar experience and demonstrated reporting and digital content skills.

ABILITIES/SKILLS
1) Must demonstrate understanding of the skills needed to report and write news and features stories, with a focus on producing clear and concise content to serve an audience using multiple digital platforms. Ideally will be able to quickly produce breaking news stories as needed, with direction from editors or other reporters.
2) Must demonstrate strong knowledge of spelling, grammar and story organization.
3) With direction from editors, must be able to generate enterprise stories.
4) Must demonstrate strong interviewing skills.
5) Must be able to work with direction from others to gather and analyze databases of local
information.
6) Ability to adapt to a varied workload and varied work days.
7) Good communication skills, including addressing inquiries from readers and the public.
8) Basic knowledge of libel, media law, First Amendment and state Sunshine Law.
9) Adhere to Daily Citizen standards of ethical conduct.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
 With direction from the Managing Editor, produces 4-6 news or feature stories each week.
 Regularly produces 1-2 in-depth public affairs stories each month, and at least one major project each year. Each in-depth story or project should be produced in the “Daily Citizen Way,” including elements to engage citizens across political and social spectrums, encourage discourse, strengthen democracy and/or foster participation as citizens and/or volunteers.
o A typical in-depth report will feature multiple sources and either be explanatory or revealing in nature, and occasionally just fun or entertaining.
o A major report should be multi-layered and data-supported, producing surprising findings or “new” news for Daily Citizen readers; such reports should be designed with community impact in mind.
 Performs other duties as assigned