Data Reporter
Sacramento is the fastest growing city in California. We continue to welcome more people, to build more homes, to open more restaurants, to offer more health-care options and so on.
The Sacramento Bee is searching for a data reporter to tell the story of this growth.
Countless data points are available to help people in our region better understand how the changing demographics, the rising cost of living, the allocation of resources and other consequences of growth directly affect their lives. The successful candidate will look for stories essential to our region based on what can be quantified, measured and put into context, the cornerstone of any data-centric approach.
You must be comfortable presenting your work in a variety of formats, including but not limited to text, video, graphics with short explainers and data visualization. The data you collect and analyze often will serve as the backbone of robust enterprise offerings.
The ability to collaborate is key. You will work with a team to visualize the data you use in your reporting. You will establish methods that allow your data to be used in the reporting of others. You will crowdsource data and findings around data, working closely with those outside the newsroom who understand this medium and who are actively engaged in our community. As part of that relationship, we will make the datasets behind our journalism available.
McClatchy is building a team that will engage in consistent and effective data reporting across the country. You will communicate with and sometimes work with other members of the team on everything from national projects to finding new tools.
You will have an enthusiasm for learning new ways of working and an ability to put them into practice immediately. Together, we will experiment with purpose and offer readers essential, sense-making stories across platforms.
Essential duties and responsibilities
As a data reporter, you will:
- Wrangle data, including filing public records and FOIAs, and scrape, clean, analyze and prepare it for publication.
- Develop accountability stories by combining data work, interviewing and on-the ground reporting with excellent storytelling.
- Work closely with colleagues to prepare high-quality presentations of your work using the best medium.
- Assist other reporters with data brainstorming, acquisition, cleaning and analysis for projects.
Qualifications
- Strong writing and reporting skills and excellent news judgment
- Proficiency in Excel, including pivot tables. Working knowledge/experience in Tableau is a plus.
- Ability to use query software analysis.
- 2-3 years of reporting and/or data experience
- Working knowledge of SEO and digital best practices
- Ability to collaborate with a team located throughout the organization
- Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
- Demonstrated ability to use social media platforms to reach and engage with audiences
- Fluency in the science of readership and engagement, including an understanding of how to use analytics such as page views, time on site, referral sources and “shares and likes” to help determine which stories resonate with which audiences
- A demonstrated ability to learn new skills and technologies, including content management systems; social media platforms; video editing software; Omniture, CrowdTangle and other analytics tools; and any emerging storytelling tools and platforms
- Demonstrated ability to work comfortably in a job that will be fast-paced, shaped constantly by feedback and experimentation and always evolving