Investigative Reporter
The Fresno Bee is looking for an aggressive journalist who will deliver high-impact accountability and investigative journalism.
The Bee’s investigative journalism efforts seek to tell stories that make a difference to people in California’s central San Joaquin Valley and to hold the powerful to account. We’re searching for a reporter who can make an immediate impact in these areas. This reporter will work alongside other reporters on an enterprise team.
The city and county of Fresno -- located in the central San Joaquin Valley and within a relatively short drive of Yosemite, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles -- comprise a strong news coverage area. Water, politics, growth, education and the environment are just a few topics that generate intense interest and provide a deep well for investigative journalism.
The Fresno Bee has an unwavering commitment and reputation for holding officials accountable and to telling stories that make a difference. The successful candidate will be passionate about doing this work. She or he must also have the skills to build audience loyalty, engagement and growth around compelling public service journalism. The Bee is at the forefront of the industry’s digital transformation and consistently is looking for new ways to tell stories.
Serving readers in a competitive landscape means becoming the best and most relevant source of journalism that matters to them -- and ensuring that our work reaches them, wherever they are. This will require a keen understanding of what’s important to local readers, developed through reporting on and familiarity with the region as well as a thorough understanding of the metrics that drive audience growth.
Minimum requirements:
- At least two years of reporting experience, with demonstrated success in accountability or watchdog work
- Strong writing and reporting skills and excellent news judgment
- Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
- Demonstrated ability to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to reach audiences
- Fluency in the science of readership and engagement, including an understanding of how to use analytics such as page views, time on site and referral sources to help determine which stories resonate with which audiences
- A demonstrated ability to tell stories using a variety of tools and platforms, including video
- Experience in learning new skills and technologies, including content management systems; social media platforms; video editing software; Omniture, CrowdTangle and other analytics tools; and emerging storytelling tools and platforms
- Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and the ability to take and give constructive criticism. The new workflows require constant conversations between reporters and editors and between reporters and their audience as a story evolves.
- Demonstrated ability to work comfortably in a job that will be fast-paced, data-driven, shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation and always evolving