STAFF WRITER

Location: Remote (US)

Salary: $60,000-$65,000/yr

Summary of Overall Job:

The staff writer's primary responsibility will be to conceive, report and write articles about a variety of policy areas for all GOVERNING (and e.Republic, as needed) editorial products as directed by editors.

The beat that this position will focus on will be state and local finance, management and administration news. Secondary beats include workforce and education.

The writer is responsible for developing and maintaining a network of sources to support original reporting and to have an active social media presence. The position will also require breaking news coverage as needed.

Essential Duties:

* Works across platforms, writes for Governing as directed by editors
* Generate and produce news articles and analysis for both digital and print. Minimum expected output is two Web stories per week and one or more magazine articles per quarter.
* Article content will be original, based primarily on fresh reporting.
* Article planning will be done in close consultation with the Governing editor.
* Most articles will be features but occasional coverage of breaking news will be required.
* In addition to writing, the staff writer will help prepare necessary elements for publication such as headlines.
* Develops, plans and reports news articles, features and major enterprise stories for Governing.com and related platforms
* Curates and digests third-party sources to present complex, interrelated issues
* Cultivates news sources
* Covers stories as assigned by editors
* Participates in departmental planning for future coverage
* Pitches and develops story ideas for daily and long-form feature coverage
* Writes stories that demonstrate thoughtful analysis of the subject

Skills/Qualifications:

* Demonstrated ability to develop original story ideas of interest to readership
* Two or more years reporting experience, with government and politics coverage preferred.
* Strong preference for experience with data journalism and visualization.
* Strong reporting, writing and analytic skills
* Experience juggling multiple deadlines
* An interest in working with data and experimenting with different methods of storytelling
* Strong work ethic and motivation to succeed
* A commitment to nonpartisan reporting and writing
* Ability and willingness to travel as needed
* Proven ability to work well with others and contribute to the team
* Must be in a work environment with reliable Internet access

This Job Description is subject to change.

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