GOVERNMENT REPORTER/COBB COUNTY

This reporter is charged with developing and writing stories on a local government beat for Cobb County, one of metro Atlanta’s largest and most influential communities. First and foremost, this reporter is a watchdog for the public, digging up and reporting inefficient and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, for example. This reporter will also write about political trends and public policy issues within Cobb and relate them to those in other metro Atlanta counties, while following state legislative action as it relates to the county. He/she must be able to break news often for ajc.com while quickly turning well-reported dailies and substantial enterprise for weekday and Sunday newspapers. 

 JOB DUTIES:

This reporter must:

• Display a clear ability to develop strong, reader-focused story ideas and write about complex concepts with clarity and authority.
• Possess an ability to write quickly for web readers.
• Demonstrate ability to be highly organized and, when warranted, manage and juggle multiple stories simultaneously.
• Display strong skills in communicating and collaborating with editors and colleagues.
• Be fluent in the use of government records and the state and federal open records acts.
• Demonstrate an ability to work in digital media, providing searchable data for Web readers, etc.
• Possess knowledge of spreadsheet and database programs.
• Be able to shoot own photographs when needed. 

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Five years of reporting experience, local government reporting experience strongly preferred.

Salary range:  $50,000-$74,000

About Cobb County: Just northwest of Atlanta, Cobb is fertile ground for a government reporter. It's the liveable and increasingly diverse home of 700,000 people, a half-dozen Civil War sites and one Big Chicken (Google it). The county government controls a $700 million budget and local politics are lively; Newt Gingrich represented the area in Congress and one of Georgia's U.S. senators lives here.  

Email a resume and 3-5 clips to Deputy Managing Editor Charles Gay at ajcnewsroomjobs@ajc.com. Please write "Government reporter" in the subject line. Deadline: July 31.