Freelance Reporter: Ontario County

Finger Lakes Daily News; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Finger Lakes Daily News seeks a reporter to cover Ontario County. You’ll cover town and village boards, schools, courts, police and fire, and community events with timely, accurate copy. You’ll pitch stories from your beat, file 300–600 word pieces on deadline, and include at least one usable photo.

Public official calls and fast corrections are expected. Local reporting first. The ideal candidate lives in or near Ontario County, has solid writing and interviewing skills, and is committed to

Qualifications

• Live in or near Ontario County and know the towns, not just the county.
• Solid writing and interviewing skills.
• A real commitment to accuracy and fairness.
• Reliable transportation and the ability to get to a meeting or a scene.
• Comfortable filing by email, or in WordPress if you've used it.
• Willing to disclose anything that would conflict with covering your community: an elected seat, a board appointment, a PR or campaign client.
• Reporting experience helps, but a track record of getting things right matters more than a degree.
• Working journalists, retired journalists, freelance writers, and students are all encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• Cover Ontario County: town and village boards, school districts, courts, police and fire, business openings and closings, and the community events people actually turn out for
• Pitch stories out of your own community, and take assignments from our News Director when something breaks near you
• File clean, accurate copy on deadline. Most stories run 300 to 600 words
• Send at least one usable photo with every story. A phone camera is fine
• Get names, titles, and numbers right the first time, and tell us fast if something needs correcting
• Be reachable when news happens on your beat, even if you can't always take it
• Work with our newsroom when a story is worth adapting for broadcast

Skills

Writing

Interviewing

Accuracy

Fairness

Transportation

WordPress

Deadline-driven

Tools

WordPress

Job description

Responsibilities

• Cover Ontario County: town and village boards, school districts, courts, police and fire, business openings and closings, and the community events people actually turn out for
• Pitch stories out of your own community, and take assignments from our News Director when something breaks near you
• File clean, accurate copy on deadline. Most stories run 300 to 600 words
• Send at least one usable photo with every story. A phone camera is fine
• Get names, titles, and numbers right the first time, and tell us fast if something needs correcting
• Be reachable when news happens on your beat, even if you can't always take it
• Work with our newsroom when a story is worth adapting for broadcast

Qualifications

• You live in or near Ontario County and know the towns, not just the county name
• Solid writing and interviewing skills. You can get a public official on the phone and ask the follow-up question
• A real commitment to accuracy and fairness. We run corrections publicly and would rather not have to
• Reliable transportation and the ability to get to a meeting or a scene
• Comfortable filing by email, or in WordPress if you've used it
• Willing to disclose anything that would conflict with covering your community: an elected seat, a board appointment, a PR or campaign client. We can work around most of them. We can't work around the ones we don't know about.
• Reporting experience helps, but a track record of getting things right matters more than a degree
• Working journalists, retired journalists, freelance writers, and students are all encouraged to apply