Boone County Reporter

Nashville Public Radio; Covington (KY); On-site; USD 42,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full benefits package

PTO and paid holidays

Equipment provided

Job summary

LINK Media in Covington, KY is seeking a Boone County Reporter to deliver daily news and in-depth, solutions-focused coverage of Northern Kentucky. You will manage a beat, develop sources, and write quickly and clearly while collaborating with the digital team on multimedia storytelling.

Join a startup-like newsroom that values flexibility, rigorous public-service journalism, and strong community ties with local officials, educators, business leaders, and residents.

Qualifications

• Report and write clear, accurate, timely stories on local government and community issues.
• Attend and cover public meetings, including evenings as required.
• Break news on policy changes, major votes, emerging issues.
• Cultivate sources and build relationships with officials, educators, business leaders, law enforcement, civic groups.
• Identify enterprise and accountability stories on county growth, budgets, education trends, and infrastructure needs.
• Cover community features such as profiles, events, and human-interest pieces.
• Contribute to multimedia storytelling with video, audio/podcasts, social content, and visuals with the digital team.
• Use audience analytics to inform coverage and drive reader engagement.
• Collaborate with editors and reporters for comprehensive NKY coverage.

Skills

Hard-news reporting

Strong writing

Interviews

Beat management

Digital storytelling

Evenings/weekends

Job description

LINK Media – Boone County Reporter

LINK Media is looking for a Boone County Reporter to help us deliver daily news and in-depth, solutions-focused coverage of the issues that matter most to the Northern Kentucky community. We need someone who can manage a beat, develop relationships, write quickly and well, and who knows their way around digital media. We're a startup, so everyone we hire is a critical member of the team, and must be willing to work quickly, accept that we don't have everything figured out, remain flexible, and above all else, understand that what we are creating is bigger than any one person, or personality.

Salary: $42,000-$47,000 per year, depending on experience, plus benefits

What We Expect from You:

• Report and write clear, accurate, timely stories on Boone County government, elections, education, business, growth/development, and community issues. Two briefs and one byline are expected daily, along with longer-form print stories as assigned.
• Attend and cover public meetings (Fiscal Court, city councils, school board, planning & zoning, etc.), including evenings as required
• Break news on policy changes, major votes, emerging issues, and key developments impacting residents
• Cultivate sources and build relationships with public officials, educators, business leaders, law enforcement, civic groups, and community stakeholders
• Identify enterprise and accountability stories that deepen understanding of county growth, budget decisions, education trends, and infrastructure needs
• Cover community features - profiles, events, neighborhood stories, human-interest pieces, and unique local happenings
• Contribute to multimedia storytelling through video, audio/podcasts, social content, and strong visuals in partnership with the digital team
• Use audience analytics to inform coverage, understand reader interests, and drive engagement
• Collaborate with editors and other reporters to ensure comprehensive NKY coverage and shared regional context

Skills We Need You to Have:

• Experience in hard-news reporting, ideally on local government, education, or community beats (professional, freelance, or collegiate)
• Strong writing, reporting, and interviewing skills with a commitment to accuracy, fairness, and public-service journalism
• Ability to translate complex government or policy issues into clear, accessible stories
• Strong organization skills and the ability to juggle multiple meetings, deadlines, and story types
• Familiarity with Boone County or a willingness to quickly learn its communities, leadership, and dynamics
• Comfort working in a fast-paced digital newsroom and collaborating with a cross-functional team
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends based on meeting schedules or breaking news

What You Can Expect from Us:

• Full benefits package - medical, dental, vision and life
• PTO and paid holidays
• All the equipment you need to do your job
• Training and support on LINK's internal style and our culture
• A giant newsroom full of tiny desks in beautiful downtown Covington, KY

You'll Need to Share Our Mission and Uphold Our Guiding Principles

Mission: With a focus on the public interest, LINK nky advances the Northern Kentucky Metro in the region, the commonwealth and the nation by providing transformative coverage of the news of the day with focus on the deeper issues that matter most to our community.

Guiding Principles:

We are:

• Solutions-Focused: We don't just report the news of the day. We dig deeper, informing our audience about how our community might solve its biggest issues.
• Unapologetic NKY Fans: We believe in this community - in what it is today, and what it has the potential to become. We want to see this community advance, and we understand the part that we play in that advancement.
• Inclusive: We explore the issues that affect all of Northern Kentucky, and give a voice to all segments of our diverse community.
• Good Stewards: It is our responsibility to make good use of our resources and to maintain a sustainable business model, so that we may serve the community long into the future.
• Independent: The publication does not make endorsements, and has a commitment to fact-based reporting about the issues that are facing Northern Kentucky. In addition to our reporting, outside opinions from multiple viewpoints will be sought, and clearly marked as such, in order to provide the robust debate that our community needs to make critical decisions about our collective future.

LINK is an equal opportunity employer. LINK prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. LINK conforms to the spirit as well as to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations.