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Environment Reporter
Gannett
Indianapolis, IN, United States
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IndyStar is looking for a dynamic reporter who can bring a sophisticated level of coverage – watchdog and storytelling – to a wide range of environment/wildlife topics. This position is part of an exciting launch of a new three-member environment reporting team. The reporter in this role would be devoted to providing significant coverage of the environment in the state of Indiana, as well as the Midwest. This reporter also would work frequently with the Arizona Republic, based in Phoenix, and would collaborate at times with USA Today and other newspapers that are part of the USA Today Network. This is a high-profile position with the opportunity to do ambitious, revelatory journalism on a big stage.
The environment reporting team is the result of a unique collaboration with the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The trust, which is based in Indianapolis and has a long-standing interest in natural resource protection, is providing financial support to help create two environmental reporting projects – one based in Indianapolis and the other based in Phoenix. The trust has committed initially to three years of funding, but the objective is to keep the work ongoing. The Star and the Republic are providing funding as well and retain all editorial control over content, news decisions and coverage plans.
Points of focus include:
• Ensuring readers understand the importance of environmental issues and how they affect quality of life. This could include such varied topics as water and air quality, industrial pollutants, land use, wildlife conservation, agriculture and sustainability efforts.
• Accountability/watchdog coverage that is both sophisticated – and data-driven/document-driven – but also has elements of storytelling by bringing to life the stories of those who are most affected.
• Process coverage of meetings should be avoided except in those cases where a meeting itself is the focus of controversy or high interest among your audience. But the reporter should be grounded and comfortable in covering legislative hearings on important environmental topics.
• The reporter must be able to break news quickly as well as produce enterprise, including issue, trend and watchdog stories, by parsing public records and documents, using data and cultivating sources.
You may be the right candidate for this job if you have a sharp eye for trends, a healthy skepticism about what works, a passion for telling stories, an eagerness to serve your audience in innovative ways across platforms, a hunger for breaking news, and a desire to learn from a talented group of coaches/editors in a collaborative culture.
You should be a self-starter comfortable working in multiple types of media: reporting and writing stories; shooting photos and videos with an iPhone; and immersed in the networks of social media to help spread the word about your great work. You should be nimble and able to tailor your approach to stories to satisfy audiences viewing your work in print or on a desktop browser, mobile device or tablet.
We want you to build a meaningful portfolio of memorable stories that take time and effort to develop. But we also want you to cover the news, efficiently and concisely, and break important stories before anyone else. So you need to be comfortable and effective at juggling multiple assignments.
Required Skills:
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience
• At least 2 years of applicable experience as a watchdog/issues reporter/writer, preferably as an environment reporter
• Ability to shoot photos and videos with an iPhone
• Proficiency on social media platforms
• Good time management and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Curiosity and a desire to try new things