Alabama Beat Reporter Jobs

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Alabama Beat Reporter

This position is remote-based, located in the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham area

Expand your journalism experience by leveraging your breaking news and digital skills in a dynamic work environment with Alabama's largest news organization. As an Alabama beat reporter, you will help us own coverage of Alabama athletics with a focus on football and breaking news for AL.com by joining our award-winning sports staff. Alabama Media Group is a digitally-focused news organization encompassing all content, marketing and sales operations for AL.com. By bringing together the quality journalism and in-depth coverage with up-to-the-minute information on AL.com, we are ensuring the communities we serve have 24/7 access to what's happening locally and around the world.

To be a good fit for this opportunity, you will have:

• A solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
• An understanding of the methods and tools used to deliver content across a variety of digital platforms, and an understanding of the imperatives of multiple platforms, including print, web, mobile, social media, etc.
• Experience taking photos, recording audio and shooting video with the ability to edit
• Mastery of social media and digital interaction with audience for reporting and promoting stories
• Proven experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience through various platforms
• This job requires reliable transportation to meet with sources or cover events
• The ability and desire to remain abreast of industry advances and to proactively consider new methods of reaching audiences including engaging, interactive and optimized product offerings
• Degree in journalism or communications or equivalent education and work experience with a proven ability in journalism reporting and writing
• An understanding of how to access and use public records for breaking news stories
• Eager to work under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately
• A proven ability to utilize a broad set of tools to tell stories and engage the audience
• Experience with search engine optimization practices
• 1-2 years of journalism experience with a proven ability in breaking news of significance

THE ROLE

You will have Alabama beat reporting responsibilities as part of a two-person team, so versatility and the ability to write authoritatively about multiple sports is key. Your normal work hours may be on the early shift, nights or weekends, so you'll need to have the flexibility to cover what is needed. In addition to traditional breaking news and feature reporting, your role will include monitoring coverage and analysis on other sports news outlets and aggregating relevant reporting onto our site. You will also monitor reader response through audience data, comment streams, and social media reaction while engaging with readers on all platforms. Ours is a digitally focused, multimedia newsroom; on any given day you may find yourself writing a long-form narrative or a series of incremental updates to a breaking sports report; recording and editing topical video or podcast audio; shooting and editing photos and building online galleries; interacting with readers in live chats or social media comment streams; and optimizing your post for a social or search-driven audience in a Content Management System.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

To excel in this role, you will be a driven, dynamic reporter and writer with the ability to deliver a high volume of content every day. You should be able to proactively identify stories that are trending and respond quickly, keeping the quality of content consistent and engaging. You'll need to be able to succeed in a collaborative environment while also possessing the ability to work independently.

You'll need to have a demonstrated digital background and to feel at home in the digital world. Because we are an online, daily operation, you will also need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. You should be someone who excels and thrives under pressure and can produce quality work regardless of the deadline you're under.

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