Higher Education Reporter - The Baltimore Banner

Join one of Baltimore's Best Places to Work!

About the Company:

The Baltimore Banner is a nonprofit newsroom founded to bring high-quality local journalism to the Baltimore metro area. We are creating a vibrant, strong, trustworthy, and sustainable news organization, seeking to re-imagine the future of local news. Using a multi-platform news operation, covering a broad range of topics from local government to culture and the arts. We tell stories that reflect the community, connecting neighbors, holding government institutions accountable, and making sense of the world. All this work is grounded in truth. We believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed, and whole Baltimore, surrounding counties, and the state of Maryland. 

About the role:

The Baltimore Banner is seeking a skilled and dedicated reporter to cover higher education in the Baltimore region.

The higher education reporter will join The Banner's Education Hub, a community-funded expansion of our journalism focused on the question: What does it take to get every Maryland child a high-quality education? This reporter will be a critical addition to the team, giving readers a comprehensive look at education in the state, from birth through young adulthood.

Maryland's 55 colleges and universities include four historically Black institutions and nationally respected names like Johns Hopkins, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the University of Maryland system. The higher education reporter will cover their role as drivers of equity, social change and the local knowledge economy, with access to college as a major focus.

The higher education reporter should be adept at building relationships with broad and diverse source networks; this reporter will talk regularly with college officials, high school guidance counselors, professors, staff members, lawmakers, parents and students. This reporter should also have a strong understanding of the audience for this coverage and what interests them. Collaboration is a key aspect of this role, as the reporter will work closely with The Banner's news partners and be comfortable making appearances on radio and TV. We value data-driven journalism, and the ideal candidate will collaborate with data journalists to produce stories that have a significant impact.

Responsibilities:

• Produce a steady stream of compelling enterprise stories that highlight Maryland higher education's most interesting issues and trends, and hold public officials accountable  
• Break news stories on the higher education beat  
• Tell stories in creative and nontraditional formats, making use of visuals, social media and data 
• Collaborate with The Banner's audience and data teams to engage the audience and distribute content across all platforms  
• Work in coordination with other Baltimore Banner editors, reporters, and staff to cover higher education intersects with other topics 

Job Requirements:

• Minimum of three years of experience in journalism  
• Strong writing skills and the ability to present complex topics in a conversational manner  
• Excellent news judgment and fact-checking skills  
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment  
• Passion for news and content that resonates with readers, particularly parents 
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills  
• Exceptional interpersonal skills  
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends as news demands  
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time management abilities  
• Familiarity with audience metrics, social media, and SEO to drive audience growth and digital subscriptions  
• Commitment to upholding journalistic values and ethic

We take pride in our core values that outline how we work. If you possess the qualifications outlined above and resonate with the cultural elements below, we look forward to exploring this opportunity with you.

• Do what's right. Honesty, morality, respect and the mission guide our actions and decisions. By doing the right thing, we inspire others to believe.
• Work together. We collaborate to create something special. Together we challenge assumptions, trust each other, take risks, and foster transparent and direct communication.
• Listen to be heard. Our stories are trustworthy. They are inspired by and created for our readers. Their story is our story. Communities are at the center of our journalism, and everything we do.
• Deliver impactful results. Acting as one accountable team and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, we deliver bold and innovative results. We act fast, execute and learn. We celebrate great outcomes.
• Be inclusive. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and act by curating a culture that leverages diverse perspectives as the key to fulfilling our mission. The Banner is for all of us.

The Venetoulis Institute embraces diversity and inclusion, and we are wholeheartedly committed to being proactive in inspiring a culture of inclusion across our organization. We are dedicated to establishing an organization that reflects the fundamental respect for different ways of working and living, and we assure every employee the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodation due to a disability to participate in the application process, please contact careers@thebaltimorebanner.com to request accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to, adjustments in the application process, modifications or assistance regarding job interviews, and accommodations to enable access to our facilities. We appreciate the value that individuals with disabilities bring to our workforce and encourage applicants with disabilities to disclose their needs for accommodation to facilitate a smooth and inclusive recruitment experience.