Reporter

Summary:

The Orange County Register is seeking an experienced reporter to join our local news team full-time to cover key cities and important topics in the area. Orange County is a diverse, innovative community with 3.2 million residents, and we need a strong reporter who sees past outdated perceptions of the county.

This reporter should be aggressive and resourceful while being a watchdog, keeping an eye on public officials and county/city developments. We're looking for journalists with the ability to produce strong enterprise and breaking news for digital and print platforms. You will cultivate sources in person and via social media, write compelling narratives as well as tweets, and are comfortable mining public records for deep investigative pieces.

What you will do:

• Versatility is a must, as stories will cover a variety of topics

• Write on deadline in a fast-paced environment

• Ability to take own photos is a plus

• Produce stories that are assigned, and be able to pitch story ideas on a regular basis

• Research and develop stories to the utmost accuracy

• Cultivate sources both in person and via social media

• Understand and use company-provided hardware, software and cloud-based equipment and systems for company business and tasks

• Discuss stories throughout the process with the assignment editor, including (but not limited to): idea development, overcoming hurdles, editing, strategy for presentation and analysis of analytics

• Work with the photo and graphics teams to ensure exploration of all the visual ways stories can be told or enhanced

• Collaborate with other Register local reporters in a positive culture of teamwork

What you will bring:

• Strong news judgment and a drive to compete

• Ability to write clean concise copy that draws readers in, including nut graphs and online headlines for SEO

• The skill to mine human sources, documents and data, including a facility for mining public records

• The ability to juggle multiple stories of varying complexity, from quick news posts under intense deadline pressure to daily news stories and longer-term enterprise

• Proficiency at using the web and social media to report stories and to share them

• Facility with multiple languages is a plus; Spanish, Vietnamese and Mandarin top the list but are not the only ones that would be helpful

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required

• At least two years of professional journalism experience; prior local government reporting experience preferred

Travel:

• Out-of-town travel is unlikely, but there will be a need to drive around Orange County

The hourly wage is $21.63 - $24.04. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, time in role, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, MediaNews Group offers a comprehensive benefits package, and 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).

Who we are:

Established in March 2016, the Southern California News Group (SCNG) has virtually overnight become one of the most powerful and influential news organizations in the U.S. This dynamic union was created when the Los Angeles News Group (owners of nine local daily newspapers and websites) and its parent company Media News Group (MNG) acquired Freedom Communications (owners of the Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise).

By combining these two highly regarded and well-established institutions, SCNG has emerged as the largest news content provider in the five-county Los Angeles metropolitan area. As a leader in circulation among top publications nationwide, SCNG now owns and operates 11 local daily newspapers and more than a dozen community weeklies.

Our mission is to connect communities by providing readers with the area's best local news coverage while providing advertisers with unprecedented access to one of the world's most diverse and dynamic audiences.

No matter the distribution vehicle-newspaper, magazine, mobile, online-SCNG's in-depth reporting on local news, politics, sports and entertainment continues to attract a desirable audience for its customers. Combining print, online and social media, SCNG now delivers premium content to over 8.1 million adults every week, making it an indispensable marketing solution for advertisers across Southern California. No other local newspaper group reaches more households in our market than SCNG.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

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