Sports Reporter

Description:

We are seeking an experienced enterprise sports reporter who is passionate about producing deep stories that extend beyond box scores and live game coverage.  

About the Role

In this role, you will focus on in-depth, original and accountability sports journalism. You will identify emerging trends from the high school ranks to the collegiate and professional level, delivering high-impact, feature-driven stories that capture the culture, business and human element of sports.

Maine is a tremendous sports market, with avid high school sports fans, as well as several collegiate and minor league sports teams, including the Maine Celtics, Maine Mariners and Portland Sea Dogs. There is also an opportunity to cover the Hearts of Pine, a pro men’s soccer team in Portland. The successful candidate should also plan on finding creative ways to get Cooper Flagg's attention. Our ideal candidate is also a curious, knowledgeable and relentless reporter who has excellent news judgment, is good at asking tough questions and telling stories that reach beyond the core fans. 

Key Responsibilities

Drive the coverage: Move beyond daily game coverage to pitch and execute deep-dive enterprise stories, investigations and profiles.

Embrace accountability: Dig deep into an array of issues, including governance in sports, while holding programs, coaches and executives accountable.

Spot trends: Monitor the sports landscape to identify cultural, economic and athletic trends at the youth/high school, collegiate and professional levels.

Build Sources: Establish and maintain a diverse network of sources to secure scoops and investigative leads.

Multimedia Storytelling: Produce compelling content across digital, print, audio, video and social media platforms to reach a modern audience.

What We Are Looking For

Proven experience: A strong portfolio of published enterprise or investigative features that prove you can look past the surface.

A reporter's instinct: A natural curiosity and a thirst to uncover impactful and hidden stories.

Adaptable Reporting: Ability to seamlessly pivot from profiling a high school phenom to investigating a professional franchise.

Multimedia Skills: Familiarity with digital publishing tools, basic photo/video capture and social media engagement.

Applicants must also be willing to work nights and weekends. We are an equal-opportunity employer. Applicants should email a cover letter, resume and up to five writing samples to Sports Editor Bill Stewart at: bstewart@metln.org