Business and Education Reporter

Hearst•Alton, IL

17h•Onsite

About The Position

The Telegraph is seeking a Business and Education Reporter to cover the schools, employers, institutions, and economic forces shaping life in and around Alton, Illinois, and across its portion of the Metro East. This position is based in Alton, Illinois. The reporter will produce a mix of timely daily stories, explanatory journalism, enterprise reporting, and accountability work, with a roughly even split between covering K-12 education and local business. This is an excellent opportunity for an entry-level or early-career journalist who wants to develop strong reporting fundamentals, build expertise, and take ownership of important local beats. The successful candidate will receive guidance from editors while also being expected to cultivate sources, pitch ideas, and pursue original reporting. The reporter may occasionally assist with other coverage when newsroom needs require.

Requirements

Strong ability to write clearly, accurately, and with authority across breaking news, daily, and enterprise formats.
Strong sense of what makes a compelling local story and ability to recognize how institutional decisions affect readers.
Ability to establish sources, maintain a forward-looking story calendar, and develop expertise across two substantial coverage areas.
Self-starter who regularly pitches ideas, follows leads, and pursues stories independently.
Comfort reading agendas, budgets, contracts, government documents, and basic datasets.
Organization: Ability to manage competing deadlines while balancing daily coverage with longer-term reporting.
Willingness to work closely with editors and colleagues in a fast-moving, evolving newsroom.
A portfolio of published reporting from professional outlets, student publications, or other credible news organizations.
Familiarity with digital publishing, social media, photography, video, or audience analytics is a plus.
A willingness to learn new tools is essential.
Must be based in the region or willing to relocate.

Nice To Haves

Experience with public records requests is preferred.
A bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications or a related field is preferred, but equivalent professional experience and a strong body of published work will also be considered.

Responsibilities

Develop authoritative coverage of K-12 schools, school districts, school boards, educators, students and families, as well as local businesses, major employers, economic development and workforce issues.
Build relationships with parents, students, teachers, school employees, business owners, workers, public officials and community members.
Regularly pitch stories based on source development, public records, data and firsthand reporting.
Provide regular coverage of public school districts, school boards and administrators, teachers, students and families, including budgets, enrollment, academic performance, staffing, curriculum, policy decisions, construction projects, consolidation proposals, potential closures and other issues affecting local schools.
Periodically cover local higher-education institutions, including the community college, nearby private colleges and the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, when developments are relevant to The Telegraph readers.
Report on business openings, closures and expansions; major employers; workforce and labor issues; downtown development; public incentives; commercial development; and the local effects of broader economic changes.
Balance quick-turn stories with deeper reporting that provides context, identifies patterns and explains why an issue matters to readers.
Use public records, budgets, contracts, regulatory documents and data to examine decisions involving public institutions, taxpayer money, economic incentives and community impact.
Periodically cover evening meetings, including school board sessions and government meetings involving economic development or major business decisions.
File accurate, clean stories on deadline.
Produce service journalism that helps families, employees, consumers and business owners understand important changes and make informed decisions.
Use photography, video, social media and other digital tools to strengthen reporting and reach audiences across platforms.
Work closely with editors, reporters, and other colleagues to produce timely and impactful journalism.
Occasionally contribute to breaking news or general assignment coverage when another reporter is unavailable or when a major story requires broader newsroom support.