Books Reporter

Nashville Public Radio; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The Wall Street Journal is seeking a reporter for its Features & WSJ. Magazine team to write consumer-facing book and literary-world features, report trends, and cover major industry news for a general audience.

The role demands high-energy reporting, a talent for distinctive angles on book-world stories, and the ability to report on the publishing business as needed. Based in our New York office, this is a full-time position with growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Unputdownable clips and exceptional writing and reporting skills.
• 4 to 8 years experience covering a relevant beat.
• A proven history of finding unexpected takes on fast-moving news events.
• A sense of humor and ability to find clever angles.
• Meticulous approach to getting facts and details right.
• Strong sense of how to engage digital audiences.
• Visual thinking and presentation across platforms.
• Collaborative, team-player attitude and entrepreneurial spirit.

Responsibilities

• Report, write and fact-check an average of four stories each month about books and literary trends.
• Develop highly shareable, witty, adrenalized story ideas with clear news value.
• Leverage industry contacts to garner scoops and identify trends.
• Cover both enterprise/long-form and lighter, engaging feature stories.
• Collaborate with senior feature storytellers and enterprise/business teams.
• Develop stories into juicy features and cover stories for WSJ. Magazine.
• Incorporate audience data to refine storytelling and coverage.

Skills

Exceptional writing

Investigative reporting

4–8 years experience

Digital audience savvy

Humor in storytelling

Meticulous fact-checking

Cross-team collaboration

Story development

Job description

The Wall Street Journal is seeking a reporter on its Features & WSJ. Magazine team to write consumer-facing book and literary-world features, report lively and prescient trend stories, cover big industry news and write delectable, highly shareable feature stories with a focus on authors, books and readership for a general consumer audience.

Modern media is rapidly transforming publishing, including every aspect of how readers engage with books and their authors. The ideal candidate is a high-metabolism feature reporter with both a zeal for chasing distinctive, character-driven angles on the biggest literary and book-world industry stories of the day, as well as an eye for the big personalities and cultural forces shaping the medium, from writers to sellers to #BookTok crusaders. This person should also be familiar with the business side of the publishing industry and be able to report on developing publishing industry news as needed.

The Journal’s Features teams blend deep reporting, sharp wit and good taste to create compulsively readable quick-turn stories, timely analysis pieces and enterprise features on the subjects of lifestyle, entertainment, culture and ideas. Stories from this team offer a lively lens on the zeitgeist, drawing connections between events and trends in the culture to form original, big-picture theses about the present moment. Reporters on the team are also expected to pitch and write long-lead stories—think exclusive sit-down interviews and juicy narrative storytelling—for WSJ. Magazine.

You Will

• Report, write and fact-check an average of four stories each month about books, literary trends, authors and the key players in the book world.
• Burst with highly shareable, witty, adrenalized story ideas with clearly understood news value and elegant, thoughtful execution.
• Bring a well-developed roster of industry contacts and knowledge of key figures and sources to help garner scoops, identify trends, and develop features.
• Easily modulate between tough, detail-driven enterprise stories as well as whimsical, frisky features that mine for joy and humor. Embody the Features and WSJ. Magazine mission to simultaneously inform and entertain.
• Work collaboratively without ego—both with senior feature storytellers, with our enterprise and business teams, and with our fellow Media bureau focused on the corporate business-side stories adjacent or related to the publishing world.
• Uncover stories no one else is chasing and develop them into juicy features and engaging reads. Amplify traditional profiles of authors, fan trends or literary trends with humanizing detail and great eye for shareable, well-crafted narrative that show potential for long‑form WSJ. Magazine inclusion as features or as cover stories.
• Embrace audience data, learning or continuing to fuse metrics with great taste and imaginative ideas.
• Ensure the voice, tone and standards of The Wall Street Journal are consistently met; that stories are accurate, fair, objective and of impeccable quality. Scrupulously uphold newsroom policies and procedures around ethics and conduct.

You Have

• Unputdownable clips and exceptional writing and reporting skills.
• 4 to 8 years experience covering a relevant beat, including news, reported feature stories, and well-developed enterprise or long-form feature storytelling.
• A proven history of finding unexpected takes on fast-moving news events, as well as an eye for book-world stories that appeal to a general audience.
• A sense of humor, including a proven history of finding clever, intelligent ways into stories that are being widely covered.
• A demonstrated meticulous approach to getting facts and details exactly right, minimizing corrections and bulletproofing stories with close attention to detail.
• A sharp sense of how to connect with digital audiences.
• Visual thinking and a vested interest in how your stories will look and present across platforms.
• A collaborative, team-player attitude, an upbeat outlook and an entrepreneurial spirit as we grow and evolve coverage needs.

You will report to the Bureau Chief of Entertainment & Arts within the Features team. This is a fulltime position based in our New York office.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. EEO/Disabled/Vets

Reasonable Accommodation

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application or participating in an interview due to a disability, email us at [e-mail]. Please put "Reasonable Accommodation" in the subject line and provide a brief description of the type of assistance you need. This inbox will not be monitored for application status updates.

Base Pay Range: $120,000 - $150,000

We’re committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation to attract top talent. This pay range reflects our good faith estimate for the role and may vary based on a candidate’s experience, skills, location, and other relevant factors.

For bonus-eligible roles, targets are determined based on multiple considerations, including market benchmarks and individual contributions.

For benefits-eligible roles, we offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package covering health, retirement, wellbeing, and more, along with optional benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees.

The Wall Street Journal is a global news organization that provides leading news, information, commentary and analysis. The Wall Street Journal engages readers across print, digital, mobile, social, audio, and video. Building on its heritage as the preeminent source of global business and financial news, the Journal includes coverage of U.S. and world news, politics, arts, culture, lifestyle, sports, and health. It holds more than three dozen Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism. The Wall Street Journal is published by Dow Jones, a division of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).