Freelance and Full-Time Local News Reporters and Editors Position Available In Morris, New Jersey

About The Role:

New Jersey Hills Media Group is seeking per-assignment freelance news reporters and full-time — in-office and in-the-field — local news reporters and editors, based in our Whippany, N.J., and Livingston, N.J., offices. Reporters and editors are provided with a variety of responsibilities. Among them are researching, reporting, writing, assigning, and editing daily news, sports, and features articles in a collection of New Jersey Hills Media Group coverage area towns. Reporter responsibilities also include taking photos and noting caption information. Editor responsibilities further include daily digital packaging and distribution of articles and photos through our website, email newsletters, and social media accounts, and laying out and proofreading one or more weekly printed newspapers on strict deadlines in collaboration with our production department. Other key editor requirements include managing freelance contributor and staff reporter assignments, writing opinion columns, soliciting letters to the editor and opinion columns from members of the community, publishing paid obituaries, and converting press releases into news articles — always adhering to Associated Press style. Full-time employees are required to spend some business days in the office and to spend some hours on business days, evenings, and weekends on location and working from home — covering local meetings, events, and breaking news, conducting enterprise reporting research and interviews, and writing and editing.

About The Ideal Candidate:

Given that we are a nonprofit organization offering modest compensation, the ideal candidate for this role is likely an early-career journalist seeking hands-on experience in all aspects of the business, or a late-career professional with a passion for local news and experience in covering local towns and local government in New Jersey. That said, we are open to considering all types of candidates to creatively identify the best person available for the job. We are most interested in hearing from generally curious, experienced local news reporters and editors, proficient in editing and packaging content for digital and print distribution, and based in our coverage area. We are looking for candidates who are excited about local news and providing area residents with essential knowledge and compelling stories that help them to be informed about and engaged in their communities.

Critical Skills Required:

Proficient using collaborative digital news content management systems to write, edit, package, and publish news and features content both online and in print.

Editors:

Experience using Adobe InDesign to lay out, edit, and proof printed newspaper pages.

Adept at researching, interviewing, note-taking, shooting photos, and writing and editing articles, photo captions, and headlines on deadline.

Comfortable taking on a wide variety of responsibilities and pitching in to support newsroom colleagues as situations require, in a collaborative open-newsroom environment.

Editors:

Proficient using social media to connect and grow a targeted audience.

Familiar with and eager to use digital engagement metrics tools to inform coverage decisions.

How to

Apply:

Please email your resume and any other pertinent information to our Executive Editor, Joe Territo, at jterrito@newjerseyhills.com.