Capitol Reporter bei The Miami Herald

The Miami Herald is looking for an aggressive, enterprising reporter to help lead our coverage of the DeSantis administration and Florida Legislature in Tallahassee. This job isn’t just about covering what is happening, but also how and why, and why it matters to the audience we write for in South Florida and beyond.

The ideal candidate likes to chase the big, breaking story and pushes to get ahead of the press conference and beyond the press release. Candidates should come sourced and experienced, with a track record of agenda-setting coverage and the drive to keep digging. And they should be excited to work at a Metro daily pace with colleagues in Miami and in Tallahassee, competing with other journalists and influencers in one of the most consequential state Capitols in the country. This is a Tallahassee-based position.

The job includes:

• Covering the DeSantis administration’s immigration crackdown and emergency spending 
• Writing about Florida’s biggest political stories as voters prepare to choose a new governor
• Working as a member of our joint bureau with the Tampa Bay Times to cover state agencies, the annual Legislative session and any special sessions.
• Teaming up with reporters in Miami to explain how and why the actions of Tallahassee affect readers in South Florida
• Pulling records from state and local agencies and offices that often don’t want to release them or don’t know how
• Quick thinking and writing to stay on top of fast-moving stories and ahead of the competition
• Juggling dailies, enterprise and projects

What you'll bring:

• Mastery of how Florida’s Capitol works legally and politically
• Clean, fast writing with scope on deadline, but also the ability to tell a story
• Eagerness to pioneer and responsibly use AI tools to super-charge your reporting
• A knack for tracking down public records and getting people to talk to you
• Competency with spreadsheets, public databases and campaign finance record
• A track record for innovation, learning and using new skills and technologies, especially AI
• Spanish language skills are a plus

What we'll bring:

As a journalist at McClatchy, you will join a supportive, flexible, collaborative team. McClatchy strives to be an employer of choice, and our benefits package is made with this goal in mind. With a focus on health, well-being, wealth and daily life, our package options include healthcare coverage for employees and their families, financial protection from expected and unexpected expenses, multiple no-cost wellness resources and even coverage for four-legged friends. 

Our overall benefits package also includes a 401(k) with employer match, competitive paid time off and corporate holidays, and a variety of mental health benefits. With an excellent support team and with focus on your well-being as a top corporate strategy, McClatchy provides benefits to support you and your family in achieving your health and wellness goals.

The Herald strives to attract journalists from a broad array of social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds into our newsroom, including African Americans, Hispanics, other people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities. We encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply.

To apply: Please include your resume, five samples of your work, and a letter outlining how you would develop sources and rise above the pack with unique, high-interest stories in this position.

McClatchy Media’s journalists are expected to take advantage of opportunities to ethically harness and leverage artificial intelligence and other automation to enhance and elevate their work and to find efficiencies that free them to focus on source-building and high quality, deeply reported journalism.

About the McClatchy Media Company

The McClatchy Media Company features a portfolio of vibrant and trusted news, lifestyle, entertainment brands and a robust retail distribution network. Our iconic local news brands such as the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and The Sacramento Bee, have collectively earned a total of 57 Pulitzer prizes and are complemented by popular lifestyle and entertainment brands such as Us Weekly and Woman’s World. Together, our brands reach more than 100 million unique visitors a month,The McClatchy Retail Network, our distribution and logistics arm, offers delivery to more than 56,000 retail locations weekly.

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