Local Government & Politics Reporter

Date Posted	April 11, 2024
Industry	Newspapers
Specialty	Not Specified
Required Education	Bachelor's Degree
Job Status	Full-time

Description:

Local Government & Politics Reporter

If you cover a dynamic community like Yakima, Washington, you cover city hall.

But you cover more than that.

You cover the people who live here. You write about their daily lives. You articulate the challenges they face, documenting their victories and losses.

If that’s how you cover a community, you belong at the Herald-Republic.

The Herald-Republic needs a reporter to cover local government and politics. That’s part of the job description, anyway.

What you’re actually covering is a vibrant community of about 97,000 people – 257,000, when you include the rest of the Yakima Valley. And more than half of them are Hispanic.

You need to engage people, learn what’s important to them, and use that knowledge to drive your journalism.

You’re not working on behalf of a single, monolithic community – you’re covering dozens of communities, even inside Yakima. So you need to use every tool at your disposal to reach those audiences.

A few more specifics about the job:

• This job is about more than elections and meetings. It’s about living, breathing people and how government affects their lives. While keeping an eye on elected officials is important, stenographer-style meeting coverage isn’t what anybody wants. They want to know if their neighborhoods are safe, if they can find jobs and if their tax money is being spent responsibly.

• That means you’ll be doing a lot of enterprise stories, which could involve any number of issues.

• And, since this is a collaborative newsroom, you’ll need to throw yourself into conversations and projects that involve journalists who share your same commitment to this community.

• This is a diverse place. Fluency in Spanish makes you more effective as a reporter.

Requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree in journalism and newsroom experience, preferably in a coverage area that sets you up for this job.

• Clear writing style.

• Highly developed interpersonal skills.

• Familiarity with open records and meetings laws.

• Excellent time management and organizational skills.

The Yakima Herald-Republic is a daily newspaper in Central Washington, an area dominated by vineyards, hop fields, wineries, brewpubs and eateries. If you enjoy the outdoors, you’ll love it here – we’re close to the Cascade Mountains, rivers, lakes and forests. Appreciate the big city? Seattle and Portland, Oregon, are 2-3 hours away.

We’re part of The Seattle Times Co., a family-owned company committed to journalistic excellence. The Blethen family believes that decisions about the Yakima Herald-Republic are best made by the people who live and work here.

The company values diversity in the workplace as well as in our news coverage. The Yakima Herald-Republic is an equal opportunity employer.

To apply, send cover letter, resume and links to Greg Halling, executive editor, at ghalling@yakimaherald.com.