Courts/Justice/Legal Affairs Reporter
The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram seeks an outstanding journalist to cover courts, justice and legal affairs. The top candidate for this position will have a distinguished record of using public documents, data and compelling interviews to help readers understand complicated situations.
We are an ambitious news organization with high standards, and we need a self-motivated reporter who can do it all – from dailies and compelling narratives to investigations and data-driven journalism. We want enterprise reporting – serious, probing enterprise journalism that identifies trends, unearths important news, exposes wrongdoing and spotlights achievements. We want watchdog journalism, and we want storytelling.
This is an intense, demanding beat. You have to be on top of the criminal and civil cases that come before the county, state and federal courts systems, But we don’t just want a steady diet of dailies and case-of-the-day coverage. We need serious, probing enterprise journalism that breaks news, identifies trends and exposes wrongdoing.
Successful candidates will have several years of daily experience in an important role and be able to submit clips that demonstrate proficiency working with FOIAs, affidavits and other documents. We need a reporter who is aggressive but not arrogant, who is confident but works collaboratively with editors.
For the right candidate, this is a fantastic opportunity. But you must be able to juggle a lot – big enterprise stories, Page One dailies and breaking news. You also must be adept at working with data, comfortable in a digital-first environment and a savvy user of social media.
If you are the best at what you do and share our zeal for ambitious journalism, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. You will be part of Maine’s finest and largest newsgathering operation, and you’ll live in a region with an extraordinarily high quality of life. Send your resume and exactly five examples of your best work to Executive Editor Steve Greenlee at sgreenlee@mainetoday.com.
We offer:
- Health, dental and vision insurance
- Short/long-term disability and life insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- 401k with company match
We are an EEO employer.