Sports Reporter | Asheville, North Carolina

Job opportunity at Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK - Sports Reporter

The Asheville Citizen-Times in North Carolina, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, is seeking an energetic and passionate sports reporter who is eager to write impactful stories that will get the community talking and sharing.

This reporter will cover prep sports across Western North Carolina's 18 counties. This job is more than just covering games. Stories will be a both quick reports and deep enterprise, from updates on teams and athletes to longer works that dig into topics like the rigors of student-athlete life, coach pay, team travel, recruiting and more. An average week may include covering games, writing enterprise and connecting with the community through Facebook Live.

This journalist should be ready to build a personal brand as the community’s leading voice on prep sports. He or she should engage readers and grow a fan base with both serious news and expert commentary.

The ideal candidate knows that good storytelling often includes a video component, so some video experience is preferred. In cases of breaking news on the beat, this reporter would need to build a story quickly for digital platforms and then know how to advance the story with an engaging lead and well-sourced copy.

This reporter should have a strong social media presence, be energetic and eager to work in a digital-first newsroom.

Evening and weekend work may be expected.

Other requirements include:

• Bachelor's degree in Communication, Journalism, or equivalent experience and education.
  
  
• Proven experience with storytelling on multiple platforms.
  
  
• Proven experience aggregating content and producing quick write-ups based on trending topics in sports. Presents a quick, conversational writing style that resonates with mobile and social audiences.
  
  
• Proficiency on social media platforms; including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
  

Asheville is a vibrant community in the heart of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, and is home to some of the nation's best mountain biking, hiking and kayaking. It's also known as a top restaurant destination and boasts dozens of craft breweries.

 

You'll probably be too poor to actually enjoy Asheville properly, though.