High School Sports Reporter

Advance Local; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 59,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan with company match

Paid time off and parental leave

Job summary

Oregonian/OregonLive in Portland, Oregon, seeks a High School Sports Reporter with passion for student-athlete storytelling and community-building. The role blends fast-paced reporting, feature-style pieces, and digital subscriber growth strategies across multiple formats.

Ideal candidates will cover nearly 300 high schools, produce game stories, previews, rankings, polls and awards, and monitor Oregon School Activities Association developments, with an emphasis on football and timely breaking

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communication, or related field or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 2 years of reporting experience.
• Good news judgment, ethics and story instincts.
• Ability to write on deadline.
• Urgency when covering breaking news.
• Ability to juggle multiple stories at once.
• Familiarity with the Oregon sports landscape.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to work nights and weekends based on sports schedules.
• Comfort working in a hybrid environment.
• Commitment to reflect underrepresented communities in sports coverage.
• Willingness to use AI and reader metrics to maximize audience reach.

Responsibilities

• Cover the nearly 300 high schools around Oregon, writing and reporting the best stories about their teams and athletes.
• Deliver scoops and chase breaking news with urgency, monitoring social media for updates.
• Deliver frequent installments of high-interest stories across many sports, with emphasis on football.
• Monitor the Oregon School Activities Association and reporting policy changes.
• Collaborate with sports editors to identify coverage priorities and communicate progress.
• Report and write independently, sometimes under tight deadlines.
• Pitch features or investigative stories on sports trends for editors.
• Develop strong relationships with coaches and athletic directors.

Skills

News reporting

Deadline writing

Social media

Audience growth

Hybrid work

Oregon sports

Education

Bachelor's degree in journalism

Job description

Job Description

Strengthening and empowering all of the communities we serve.

The Oregonian/OregonLive in Portland, Oregon, is seeking a High School Sports Reporter with passion and flair for writing about high school sports and student-athletes — and who embraces how those stories build community connections.

Join a high-producing and award-winning Sports staff that this year earned six awards in the national Associated Press Sports Editors contest, including for high-school sports beat coverage.

We’re seeking someone who already is, or is eager to become, an expert on local sports teams and the players and coaches who propel them. We’re seeking someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is capable and excited about experimentation and delivering content in various story forms.

An emphasis for this position will be growing our base of digital subscribers. That means responding with urgency to breaking news, publishing scoops and delivering smart content in ways that meet readers and viewers where they are. That includes not only covering big games and writing about star student-athletes, but also delivering: in-depth season previews of players and teams; rankings and lists of teams and players; reader polls throughout the season; winners of all-conference and state awards across a variety of sports.

Experience producing social media, newsletter and video content is a plus.

The base pay for this position is $58,500 - $68,500 annually.

This is a hybrid position based in the Portland metro area. This position requires reliable transportation to meet with sources and cover games and events.

Applicants should submit a resume and 3 - 5 stories showcasing their reporting and writing skills.

What you’ll be doing:

• Covering the nearly 300 high schools around Oregon, writing and reporting the best stories about their teams and athletes, including game stories for important matchups, features about student-athletes or in-depth stories about elite players

• Delivering scoops and chase breaking news with urgency, including off-field issues. This includes actively monitoring social media for news, as many student-athletes share updates there first

• Delivering frequent installments of high-interest stories, including previews, rankings, lists, polls and awards across many sports, with a particular emphasis on football

• Monitoring the Oregon School Activities Association, the governing body that oversees policy, classification and districting changes and also regulates issues involving improper conduct

• Working collaboratively with sports editors to identify coverage priorities and communicate efficiently on progress or obstacles

• Reporting and writing stories independently, sometimes on tight deadlines

• Identifying and pitching features or investigative stories on sports trends for consideration and assignment by editors

• Developing strong working relationships with information sources such as coaches and athletic directors

Our ideal candidate will have the following:

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communication, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience

• Minimum of 2 years of reporting experience

• Good news judgment, ethics and story instincts

• Ability to write on deadline

• Urgency when covering breaking news

• Ability to juggle multiple stories at once

• Familiarity with the Oregon sports landscape

• Strong organizational and communication skills

• Ability to work nights and weekends based on sports schedules

• Comfort working in a hybrid environment

• A commitment to reflect underrepresented communities in sports coverage

• Willingness to use AI and reader metrics to maximize audience reach

Additional Information

Advance Local Media offers competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package with affordable options for your healthcare including medical, dental and vision plans, mental health support options, flexible spending accounts, fertility assistance, a competitive 401(k) plan to help plan for your future, generous paid time off, paid parental and caregiver leave and an employee assistance program to support your work/life balance, optional legal assistance, life insurance options, as well as flexible holidays to honor cultural diversity.

Oregonian Media Group is a part of Advance Local Media, one of the largest media groups in the United States, which operates the leading news and information companies in more than 20 cities, reaching 52+ million people monthly with our quality, real-time journalism and community engagement. Our company is built upon the values of Integrity, Customer-first, Inclusiveness, Collaboration and Forward-looking. For more information about Advance Local, please visit www.advancelocal.com .

Oregonian Media Group is the most trusted source for news and information in Oregon and Southwest Washington. A digitally focused company, Oregonian Media Group provides content when and where readers want it - online, on smartphones and on tablets - through OREGONLIVE and a range of digital products. As the largest media company in the state, Oregonian Media Group is also advertisers' strongest media partner, with an innovative suite of products to help them connect with their best customers.

Advance Local Media is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or any other category protected under federal, state or local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please contact Human Resources and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

Advance Local Media does not provide sponsorship for work visas or employment authorization in the United States. Only candidates who are legally authorized to work in the U.S. will be considered for this position.