Sports Reporter
The Independent in Grand Island, Nebraska, is seeking a journalist who can cover local sports teams in a way that will lead to higher reader engagement. Through extensive data review, we’ve found that readers care most about the people – athletes and coaches – and less about play-by-play. Sports features and team analysis are of greater interest to our readers than standard gamers.
The successful candidate will go to games to take photo and video and get interviews, but instead of a traditional game story will come up with takeaways or “what we learned” from the game to post early the next morning. That reporting and the relationships established with coaches and players will lead to feature stories in subsequent days/weeks. The bread and butter of the job is high school sports, but flexibility is needed to cover college/pro sports with local angles.
Responsibilities include writing stories for digital and print, taking videos and photos and posting content online and on social media to engage and grow our digital subscriber base. If you are able to write clearly, develop sources and can take initiative to find stories, this may be the role for you. The successful candidate will be proficient in AP writing and reporting, photography, videography and digital platforms.
Preference will be given to candidates with a journalism degree, although internships and experience will be considered. New graduates/journalists are welcome to apply, and The Independent provides an opportunity for journalists to learn and grow. The ability to produce timely reports in today’s instant digital news environment is a must.
Why Lee?
Lee Enterprises offers competitive wages in a dynamic, interesting work environment with career growth opportunities. We offer an extensive benefit program that can be personalized to your needs that includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, company provided life insurance and supplemental life insurance. In addition, we offer a 401K retirement plan with company match. We also offer generous paid time off to allow flexibility to balance personal life and work. This includes paid parental leave for new parents.
Lee Enterprises is a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news and information, with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving over 70 markets in 25 states. Year to date, Lee's newspapers have an average daily circulation of 1.0 million, and our legacy websites, including acquisitions, reach more than 34 million digital unique visitors.
Lee Enterprises is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we participate in E-verify. We are committed to attracting and retaining a workforce whose diversity reflects the communities we serve. Lee embraces change, and we recognize that we must create and maintain a culture of fervent inclusion. For more information about Lee, check us out at www.lee.net.
If you are excited about this role but do not meet 100% of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply at https://lee.net.careers; search for Grand Island.
