Social Services Reporter

Description:

Summary:

The Orlando Sentinel is looking for a creative and enterprising reporter to cover social services in Central Florida, with a special focus on early childhood. We intend to produce a series of resonant stories on societal issues confronting young children, including pre-K education; childcare availability, quality and regulation; family leave; and more.

The journalist in this job will be encouraged to expand those issues into a broader beat that examines the interactions between government, businesses and families struggling to survive and advance in a vibrant metropolitan area that nevertheless suffers from one of the lowest median incomes of any urban center in the country. We want this reporter to examine the realities of family life and young life at the ground level, populating stories with real characters who will touch and educate our audience.

This job, a partnership with the Bainum Family Foundation, is a temporary position funded for one year with an option to extend.

What you will do:

• Provide readers with what we know, when we know it; be transparent about sources of information

• Be quick-thinking and versatile, have strong news judgment and relish chasing down a story as it develops

• Be nimble – getting a story online in minutes, while sifting through the noise of a chaotic situation to identify reliable information – but also showing the ability to dig deeper, utilizing public records, databases and sources to write compelling follow-up and enterprise stories

• Employ creativity every day to conceive of stories, produce or secure visuals, get sources to cooperate, corroborate facts and present information to readers in the most relevant, interesting way

• Maximize audience engagement with the site through use of various storytelling formats, including photo galleries, aggregation and a variety of design approaches

• Creatine news and features content that is strong on grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity and accuracy

• Work with data and visuals teams, as appropriate, to deepen reporting and produce data-visualizations

 What you will bring:

• Bachelor’s degree

• 1-2 years experience in a metro news organization is encouraged, but what’s most important is your passion for the subject matter and some clips that convince us you have the observational, interviewing and writing skills to handle this assignment

• Willingness to learn libel laws and adhere to Tribune’s codes of ethics

• Social media skills – both for reporting and research – are required

• Basic knowledge of SEO best practices and ability to research SEO and appropriately populate fields and headlines

Please include the following in your online application: cover letter, resume, and links to six clips that show your skills and range

Who we are:

The Orlando Sentinel, founded in 1876, is the primary daily newspaper in Orlando, Florida. Our mission is to deliver the truth every day. We bring you the stories that matter most, written without bias, so you can make informed decisions. The Sentinel's Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism works to protect your interests, help navigate your daily life and tell the stories that connect you with the communities where you live and work. We are headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and are part of the Tribune Publishing Company portfolio.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.