News Reporter - Lorain County

Clay Today; Cleveland (OH); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in Northeast Ohio seek a News Reporter to cover Lorain County. You will gather information, develop sources, and explore the beat, while a rewrite desk turns your findings into AI-assisted stories.

This role focuses on county-wide accountability—covering the courts, sheriff’s office, and city councils—while filing posts throughout the day and collaborating with editors and AI tools to deliver timely, in-depth reporting.

Qualifications

• A degree in journalism, communications or a related field, or equivalent education and experience.
• At least 3 years of professional journalism experience with a proven ability in reporting and writing.
• Collaborative instincts and excellent communication skills.
• Curiosity, adaptability and comfort with experimentation and innovation, including with AI tools.
• This job requires reliable transportation to meet with sources or cover events.

Responsibilities

• Gather information, talk to sources, and meet people in the community.
• Develop sources and dig into records to inform Lorain County coverage.
• Coordinate with rewrite desk to turn reporting into AI-assisted stories.
• Provide county-wide accountability coverage including the courts, sheriff's office, and local government.

Skills

Journalism experience

Communication skills

Collaboration

AI tools familiarity

Reliable transportation

Education

Bachelor's degree in journalism or related field

Tools

ChatGPT

Claude

Gemini

Job description

Strengthening and empowering all of the communities we serve.

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealerare seeking a News Reporter to cover Lorain County, Ohio.Your jobwillbealmost exclusivelytogather information,rather thanwrite.Thisfreesyou to report:to develop sources, dig into records and explore the beat, while arewrite specialistturnsyour findingsinto full stories using artificial intelligence.

As the Lorain County Reporter, you'llexploreone of Northeast Ohio's fastest-growing and most varied counties — a place that runs from soybean fields and township halls to the industrial waterfront of Lorain, the county seat in Elyria, the college town of Oberlin and the booming suburbs of Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville.It'sroughly500square milesand315,000 people, andalmost everystory here is about change:who'sarriving,what'sbeing built,what'sclosing and who gets a say.

The reporter in this role ownscounty-wideaccountability coverage. That includes county commissioners, the courts and the sheriff's office; city councils, schoolboardsand zoning meetings; and breaking newsas ithappens.

You'llfile multiple posts a day, workingwithour AIrewritedesk.Nearly allyour stories will be turned into text by the rewrite desk, while you spend your time reporting:gathering information, talking to sources, meeting people in thecommunityand delving into reporting. Ourrewrite specialist uses artificial intelligence as a tool to craft the stories for cleveland.com.

Lorain stories are some of our most compelling, like theseexamplesshow:

Lorain County’s jail is crumbling and everyone inside is paying the price

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2026/06/lorain-countys-jail-is-crumbling-and-everyone-inside-is-paying-the-price.html

Communities across Lorain County consider how to handle data centers, industrial growth

https://www.cleveland.com/lorain-county/2026/03/communities-across-lorain-county-consider-how-to-handle-data-centers-industrial-growth.html

Bursting at the seams: North Ridgeville High School juggles 500 more students than building can handle

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/04/bursting-at-the-seams-north-ridgeville-high-school-juggles-500-more-students-than-building-can-handle.html

The base salary range is$55,000 - $65,000per year.

Qualifications

A degree in journalism, communications or a related field, or equivalent education and experience. At least 3 years of professional journalism experience witha provenability in reporting and writing. Collaborative instinctsandexcellent communication skills Curiosity, adaptability andcomfort with experimentation and innovation,including withAI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or newsroom-specific applications). Thisjobrequires reliable transportation to meet with sources or cover events.