Pro and College Sports Reporter
Are you an assertive and versatile sports journalist ready to compete in the most demanding media market in the country?
If you have the fire to deliver breaking news and compelling stories to our readers, who are some of the smartest sports fans anywhere, we want to meet you.
NJ Advance Media has a full-time opening in our sports department for a general assignment position that will include opportunities for in-depth features, long-form enterprise and long-term projects.
Would like to see candidates with experience on a major college or professional sports beat and exhibit the ability to break news; uncover, report and craft compelling stories; and have the confidence to fill in on any of our pro and college beats.
If you don’t have experience on a pro or college beat, but have commensurate journalism experience or can dazzle us with your work, please reach out. We love candidates with upside — and we have a staff full of mentors and teammates waiting to support you.
You would join a sports department that includes:
- Steve Politi, the No. 1-ranked sports columnist in the country;
- Matt Stanmyre, who has won dozens of awards and recently teamed with Steve to capture the APSE’s top investigative reporting honor;
- A diverse staff of more than 30 hard-working sports reporters and editors.
NJ Advance Media, N.J.’s largest and most influential news organization, provides content for NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and our other affiliated papers. Our sports reporters have won countless APSE awards while competing against industry heavyweights. Our newsroom has won three Pulitzer Prizes, more than three dozen NY Emmy Awards for our video work and virtually every major award that recognizes excellence in News, Sports, Features and Data journalism.
We value innovation, voice, competition, diversity, equity, inclusion and a shared passion for journalism.
Our ideal candidate will have demonstrated an ability to:
- Report and write with energy, tenacity and urgency, and have the drive to break news. Have the savvy to report difficult stories, and the instincts to question the people and teams we cover.
- Build and maintain sources.
- Identify, report and write high-impact sports journalism, including long-form enterprise.
- Write with voice, authority and accuracy to create polished copy.
- Use time effectively and treats deadlines as sacrosanct.
- Juggle stories and responsibilities without being flustered by breaking news and fluid assignments.
- Be a terrific teammate who supports staff members, collaborates and communicates effectively, and is willing to learn from (and teach) colleagues.
- Generate work that is balanced, fair, accurate and complete while using a diverse range of sources.
- Engage with editors on the best way to tell stories, digitally and in print.
- Show a knack for constructive, respectful and positive social media engagement that helps NJ Advance Media build our brand and grow our community.
For this position, we are looking for candidates with:
- Bachelor’s degree in Journalism or Communications or related field required or commensurate experience
- Minimum 3 years of pro or college sports beat experience, with demonstrated reporting, writing and organizational skills
- Have a working knowledge of the AP Stylebook
- Proven experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience
- Ability to work independently under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately
- Experience with search engine optimization practices
- Demonstrated capability to react quickly as news breaks
- Ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates NJAM from its competitors