The Hartford Courant, a Pulitzer-prize winning publication, is looking for a dining reporter who shares the same passion for food, drink and the world of dining as the readers of Connecticut. The right candidate will be ready to capture and chronicle the dining world in state well known for its passions when it comes to food. The dining scene in Connecticut is varied and diverse and our mission is to capture its full breadth in stories, photos and other forms of content. The right candidate should understand how to find great stories and tell them with compelling clarity. Previous experience as a food or dining writer is a plus but not a requirement.

The dining reporter will help create premium content for Courant.com and other digital platforms that engages audiences and supports the newsroom’s mission. The columnist will bring expertise and knowledge to their coverage areas and able to create the most compelling content the newsroom has to offer in text and other forms, including, when appropriate, video, audio, podcasts, Facebook Live events, etc. They will have exceptional writing and reporting skills and be fluent in assessing audience through basic metrics and publishing on other platforms such as social media. They will be prepared to promote themselves, their work and The Hartford Courant through social channels, in broadcast media and at live events.

The columnist must be self-directed and consistently deliver superior work with little direct supervision. They often work long and irregular days and hours, sometimes on projects with demanding deadlines, and travel when necessary. The sports columnist must possess initiative; creativity; good news judgment; attention to detail; self-direction; the ability to multitask and meet deadlines; the ability and desire to work with a team; a strong command of the English language and a commitment to accuracy. They should have a sophisticated understanding of digital trends, social media and audience metrics.

Tribune Publishing is committed to hiring people with diverse backgrounds, voices and visions. Be yourself. Bring yourself. Because that’s the only way we will deliver on our mission to provide meaningful journalism to the diverse communities we serve. We hold ourselves accountable for fostering inclusion and opportunity across race, gender, age, creed, identity and experience. Join us.

• Being fast and accurate: Always striving to provide readers with what we know, when we know it. Be transparent about sources of information.
• Employing creativity every day to conceive of stories, produce or secure visuals, get sources to cooperate, corroborate facts and present information to readers in the most relevant, interesting way.
• Bringing particular expertise and knowledge to coverage areas.
• Focusing on issues of diversity and inclusion in the world of sports.
• Maximizing audience engagement with the site through use of various storytelling formats, including photo galleries, video, aggregation and a variety of layouts.
• Creating premium news and features content, that is among the newsroom’s most compelling work--strong on grammar, punctuation, clarity and accuracy.
• Taking the initiative to fact-check, run background checks and confirm information before publication.
• Delivering on time with minimal to moderate supervision and editing.
• Cultivating beats, where appropriate, and sources.
• Promoting themselves, their work and the Hartford Courant through social media, in broadcast media and at live events.
• Uncovering and proposing exclusive stories on newsworthy events and trends.
• Conceiving, creating, editing, aggregating or producing various types of content.
• Depending on department, this may include videos, maps, timelines, multimedia, documents, graphics, photo galleries, gifts and social aggregations.
• Measuring performance of one’s own digital content through audience engagement metrics and working with audience team develop tactics and strategies to build audience.
• Working with data and visuals teams, as appropriate, to deepen reporting and produce data-visualization content items
• Participating in production videos and live streaming with visuals department, as appropriate
• Striving to meet specific individual goals as assigned on a regular basis by supervisor.
• Measuring performance of one’s own digital content through audience engagement metrics and working with audience team develop tactics and strategies to build audience.
• Working with data and visuals teams, as appropriate, to deepen reporting and produce data-visualization content items
• Participating in production videos and live streaming with visuals department, as appropriate
• Striving to meet specific individual goals as assigned on a regular basis by supervisor.

• Three years’ experience in journalism.
• Professional-level utilization of proper grammar, spelling, punctuation.
• Ability to write accurately, with clarity, without bias.
• Knowledge of libel laws and adherence to Tribune Publishing and The Hartford Courant’s codes of ethics.
• Strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Competitive instincts.
• Ability to multitask and perform in a fast-paced deadline driven environment.
• Ability to work independently when required while at the same time operate efficiently in a team dynamic.
• Maintain and acquire new skills on multiple digital platforms and evolving technologies.
• Familiarity with current events and newsmakers.
• Quick-turnaround skills.
• Familiarity with analytics and ability to translate data into tactics and strategies, including ability to use metrics from Chartbeat, Adobe Analytics, social and other tools.
• Working knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social platforms and ability to develop/follow best practices for social.
• Knowledge of SEO best practices and ability to research SEO and appropriately populate fields and headlines.
• Willingness to work evenings/weekends and irregular hours.