The Daily Catch, an independent, online, non-profit newspaper serving the exquisite Hudson Valley towns of Rhinebeck and Red Hook, seeks a full-time staff reporter to cover local government, features, and trends. Position starts March 1, 2023. This is a great opportunity for an individual who seeks to live in a beautiful place two hours north of New York City and to cover a wide range of stories, from farming and education to climate change and town government.
Duties:
--Attend Board of Education, Town Board, Planning Board meetings and report, then write up, the news developments (some meetings are held at night).
--Report and write feature and trend stories suggested by the editor and/or generated yourself.
--Develop sources and relationships to generate story ideas and to have reliable connections when stories break.
--Utilize social media tools to find stories and to keep abreast of the thoughts of newsmakers in our community.
--Produce weekly “beat notes” detailing plans and stories for the week ahead.
--Take photographs on your mobile phone for all stories you report and solicit additional photos, as necessary, from sources.
--Maintain close working partnership with the editor in our small virtual newsroom.
--Attend in-person Monday work meetings/lunches at our in-person newsroom at the editor’s Red Hook home.
Requirements:
--1 year of journalistic work experience and clips to show it. In rare cases, where significant aptitude is shown, The Daily Catch will consider applicants with less experience.
--Must have a car and solid driving skills.
--Strong reporting and note-taking skills.
--Inclination towards exceptional accuracy, taking great care with facts, quotes, and nuance.
--Facility writing stories efficiently.
Intense curiosity.
--Excellent time-management skills.
--Confidence to dig and ask questions even when you feel self-conscious.
Salary and Benefits: $35,000-$42,000, commensurate with experience. 15 PTO days per annum, to be used at employer’s and employee’s mutual discretion. Flexible work schedules can sometimes be accommodated.
Hours: 40-hour week. Coverage of night meetings and some weekend events required, typically 1-2 evenings a week (sometimes, it may be possible to file stories the next day).