City Hall Reporter

Hearst•Dallas, TX

About The Position

The Dallas Morning News is seeking an experienced, ambitious reporter to cover city government with urgency, depth and accountability. The reporter will break news, produce enterprise and accountability stories, help cover city elections, explain how City Hall decisions affect residents, and hold elected officials and public institutions accountable. The role uses a digital-first approach and includes collaboration across newsroom teams, as well as the use of AI and digital storytelling tools to extend the reach and impact of journalism. The newsroom uses AI tools, including ChatGPT Enterprise and Hearst DevHub-built tools, to assist with routine work such as generating headline options and SEO keywords, editing for grammar and clarity, adapting stories for different formats and platforms, monitoring public meetings, and processing or summarizing data. AI-assisted work is human-verified. The Hearst DevHub AI group develops reader-facing experiments and projects with accuracy as a core metric.

Requirements

At least five years of professional reporting experience, including significant coverage of local government, politics or public policy.
Demonstrated success breaking exclusive news and advancing competitive stories.
Strong understanding of municipal government, public finance and local policymaking.
Exceptional source-building skills across City Hall, political circles and the broader community.
Strong investigative skills using public records, budgets, contracts, campaign finance and data.
Proven ability to balance breaking news with enterprise and accountability reporting.
Strong news judgment, interviewing skills and commitment to accuracy.
Experience producing digital-first journalism and using multiple storytelling platforms.
Experience collaborating across newsroom teams on major projects.
Bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Ability to experiment with advanced AI to enhance journalism and reporting efforts.

Nice To Haves

Deep knowledge of Dallas city government, politics, civic issues and the city’s business community.

Responsibilities

Break exclusive news on the mayor, City Council, city departments and major municipal issues.
Produce breaking news, accountability reporting, enterprise stories and features about local government’s effects on residents.
Publish with a digital-first mindset, delivering timely reporting through multiple storytelling formats.
Cover local campaigns and elections fairly and independently, with a focus on their impact.
Build and maintain trusted sources across City Hall, neighborhood groups, business leaders and community organizations.
Explain budgets, development, public safety, housing, infrastructure and other complex city issues clearly.
Cover City Council meetings, municipal elections and major city events with speed, accuracy and context.
Collaborate with investigative, data, visuals and local newsroom teams on major projects.
Use AI, analytics, audience insights and digital storytelling tools to maximize journalism’s reach and impact.
Maintain high standards of accuracy, fairness and verification under deadline.