Iowa City Prep Sports Reporter

USA Today Co • Iowa City, IA

7d

About The Position

The Iowa City Press-Citizen, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, seeks a reporter energized by the opportunity to deliver enterprising high school sports coverage to the digital audience. This position requires someone who thinks digital first and will focus on the Press-Citizen’s audience, engagement and revenue goals. Multimedia skills, including the ability to produce and edit video and engage audiences on social media, is a must. The candidate must be comfortable analyzing and interpreting metrics to help make coverage decisions and use SEO techniques. The reporter must build sources, break news, create top-shelf enterprise and tell compelling stories for our digital audience. This position will focus on making high school sports a mandatory reading experience for local and statewide fans. This writer will play a leading role in strategy development and identifying innovative techniques on the beat. Those techniques include but are not exclusive to rankings, athlete and team of the week polls, players lists and contributing to our all-Iowa teams. The writer will work with the USA TODAY Network Iowa team to grow coverage throughout the state, especially during the state volleyball and girls wrestling tournaments. The writer must also be able to handle other duties assigned by an editor as well as adjust to initiatives and strategies and implement them. Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa, and this reporter will get the occasional opportunity to contribute to Hawkeyes coverage. The reporter will be primarily sports-focused, but also will contribute to coverage of breaking news or handle general assignments. Key attributes for success: Be the source of high school sports information in Johnson County. The ability to report and write compelling stories that serve our existing audience and help attract new readers. Passionate about getting the information to the audience first, and excited about using various platforms to connect with audiences. Adjust, adapt and suggest best practices to help the company achieve audience, engagement and revenue goals. Meeting all deadlines assigned by editors and planners and understanding digital and print have different deadlines for content. Reaching deadlines allows editor and planners to optimize content’s reach on multiple platforms including digital, print and social. Self-starter with the ability to develop relationships through in-person interaction, phone calls, text messaging and social media. Understanding the collaborative nature of journalism and willing and eager to work with others to benefit our regional and statewide coverage and its audience.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, journalism or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Previous sports reporting experience
• Proficiency on social media platforms; including but not limited to Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
• Experience shooting and editing photos and video on a mobile device.
• Strong communication skills, news judgement, and headline-writing ability.
• Ability to multitask and excel under intense deadline pressure.
• Ability to work collaboratively and efficiently.
• Strong writing, spelling and grammar skills; familiarity with AP style.
• Ability to work nights and weekends.
• Comfort building a beat and communicating with athletes and coaches.
• Candidates should have facility with AI and automation and experience in using it to enhance their journalism.
• A valid driver’s license, reliable transportation and the minimum liability insurance required by state law.

Responsibilities

• Create storytelling that accurately informs, entertains and engages specific audiences and platforms through the use of metrics.
• Work toward becoming the community’s leading voice of expertise in high school sports.
• Connect with the community through storytelling and outreach (social media, on camera, forums, community leadership, etc.).
• Provide thoughtful analysis of complex issues.
• Work with editor and content strategist to evaluate what's working and what's not and develop ongoing plans to satisfy audience needs.
• Collaborate to provide appropriate elements for stories (i.e. photos, videos and graphics)
• Capture photos and video as needed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level