Texas Brands Reporter, Chron

This is a Full Time Job

Texas Brands Reporter

Chron is seeking a Texas Brands reporter to expand the site's business coverage for its Houston and statewide audiences. This role will cover the big legacy companies and small, inspiring startups that power Texas' economic engine-including the tech and innovation, oil and gas, and aerospace and airlines sectors-as well as people calling the shots. The reporter will also spotlight popular brands Texas die-hards hold most dear, such as H-E-B, Buc-ees, Whataburger and Blue Bell. This reporter will be expected to chase down smart, unique, unexplored angles and write compelling and entertaining news and features that tell the story of Texas through its myriad businesses.

Primary responsibilities:
• Write features and news about Texas' most influential and up-and-coming companies.

• Pitch to their editor and develop stories and projects

• Make media requests including photos and video from business and brands being covered.

• Do on the ground reporting, meet with sources, and attend events relevant to the beat.

• Develop an editorial calendar.

Requirements:
• 3-5 years of professional journalism experience required

• Excellent news judgment and feature writing skills

• Excellent reporting, researching and interviewing skills

• Either experience or a strong interest in business reporting

• Strong copy-editing skills and knowledge of AP Style

• An understanding of what drives our Houston and Texas audience

• Familiarity with content management systems and metric tools

Preferred skills:
• Knowledge of Texas and Houston businesses and brands.

• Experience using Chartbeat, Google Analytics, Looker, or other analytics tools

• Experience working in a CMS and publishing to digital platforms

The most challenging aspect of this position:
• Finding compelling stories within the beat that no one else is covering

• Balancing daily and longer-lead deadlines

What type of decisions does this person have the authority to make without a supervisor's approval?
• Developing sources and chasing features and news leads within their assigned beat

For what types of decisions does this person defer to others for approval?
• Publishing features and news stories to Chron's site

• Editorial strategy

What are the measures of success for this position?
• Meeting deadlines and keeping pace with publishing schedule while improving quality of work over time

• Overall traffic performance of original stories in aims of meeting daily and monthly goals

• Mentions, links, shares, and pickups of stories from prominent third-party publications

• Reader shares and other engagement with stories on social media platforms

• Overall increase of unique in-DMA visitors

• Overall increase of loyal in-DMA visitors

The Houston Chronicle, recognized for its Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, serves its 2.3 million residents with content and marketing solutions across two of Houston's largest websites - HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com, along with our magazine, television and newspaper brands. Our mission is to spark conversations that inspire action to create a better Houston. All our content and the innovative business solutions we provide invite Houstonians to join conversations about a community we've been committed to covering and helping prosper for more than 120 years. The community we all call home.

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