Accountability/Enterprise Reporter

The Fresno Bee seeks an ambitious, enterprising reporter who finds that extra voice, speaks truth to power, and yearns to help the disenfranchised and serve our growing audience in Fresno, California.

Accountability reporting is at the heart of this beat, and we are looking for someone who can craft stories that not only shine a light on problems but also help formulate solutions. This beat requires a keen understanding of what’s important to people in our community, developed through shoe-leather journalism and the use of audience analytics.

This reporter will plan and execute stories that move the needle, as well as dive into the mix with dailies and quick-hit stories as news dictates.

Journalism is a team sport in our newsroom. The ability to collaborate and communicate well with colleagues every day is essential. And having the skills to build audience loyalty, engagement and growth — by understanding the metrics that drive them — is a must.

Fresno is California’s fifth-largest city in the culturally rich Central Valley. This city of 550,000 people and county of more than 1 million is a great place to live and work. You get the benefits of small-town living with access to Yosemite and Sequoia national parks — and the ability to drive to the San Francisco Bay Area in under three hours and Los Angeles in under four.

Our newsroom is nimble and collaborative, and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to learn from seasoned journalists as well as hone their video and audio skills.

And if you have a passion for this topic but don’t meet 100 percent of the requirements, please apply. Don’t be afraid to highlight other skills you bring to the table in a cover letter.

The anticipated base pay range for this position is between $30.26 and $35.39 per hour. Individual base pay may vary within that range depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, relevant education, training, geography and local wage and hours laws.

In this role, you will need to:

Understand issues at the local, state and national level surrounding race, equity and their effects on communities.

Cultivate diverse sources who will help you break news and add perspective to coverage.

Post breaking news stories on our website and social platforms, quickly followed by updates that add more detail and context.

Manage your time to make room for urgent dailies, revelatory enterprise, watchdog journalism and narrative storytelling.

Demonstrate speed, competitiveness and SEO savvy.

Illustrate why issues of equity matter, what’s at stake and why readers should care.

Identify topics that will engage readers, using social media, reader input and audience analytics.

Embrace opportunities to collaborate with other reporters and pitch in when needed.

What you'll bring:

The successful candidate should meet many, though not necessarily all, of the following requirements:

At least two years of full-time reporting experience.

Strong writing and reporting skills.

Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism.

Ability to use social media platforms to reach and engage with audiences.

Fluency in the science of readership and engagement, including an understanding of how to use analytics such as pageviews, conversions and referral sources to help determine which stories resonate with which audiences.

Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give constructive criticism.

Demonstrated comfort in a job that will be fast-paced, data-driven, and shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation.