College, High School Sports Writer

The Lexington Herald-Leader, located in the heart of the Kentucky Bluegrass, is seeking a versatile, audience-and-subscriber focused individual to create original content for digital and print as a general assignment sports reporter/videographer. In this role, you will build digital readership through positive, frequent use of social media and video production. Coverage areas of emphasis are University of Kentucky women’s basketball plus high school sports, horse racing, minor league baseball and additional UK and in-state college sports.

This reporter should be able to demonstrate speed and competitiveness to reach readers first, leverage SEO, aggregating and storytelling tools and techniques and cultivate varied sources for tips and leads. This reporter should work well as part of a team of journalists.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Create original content for digital and print. Original content could include stories, podcasts, photos, videos and other potential forms as assigned by an Editor.

• Drive the local discussion of UK women’s basketball through thorough reporting, accurate writing and skillful use of social media. The UK women’s basketball component includes in-season game coverage plus out-of-season coverage as warranted.

• Expectations emphasize frequent use of social media to positively interact with readers and build the Herald-Leader’s sports brand with a goal of increasing audience.

• Use all available resources — Crowdtangle, Google trends, other types of media — to generate ongoing story ideas that appeal to the widest possible audience.

• Focus on diversity and fairness in sourcing, story ideas and interviews.

• Keep an evolving deep bench of sources.

• Understand, use and request court and public documents and data to develop ideas, report and write.

• Demonstrate interest in growing digital skills and trying new tools, including data visualizations and interactives.

• Think visually when covering a story of any type. Submit visuals requests, shoot video or photos and work with the visuals team as necessary.

• Must be a team player, able to collaborate across departments and roles.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• College degree.

• 1-3 years of reporting experience.

• Must have reliable transportation. Must have valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance required (at least minimum insurance required for the state in which the employee works).

• Strong writing skills, excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers.

• Commitment to ethics.

• Ability to build source networks and bring a constant flow of story ideas.

• Ability to work collaboratively to aggressively tackle stories.

• Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving.

• Facility with data, public records and business reports.