The Reno Gazette-Journal/rgj.com part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, is seeking a dynamic, metrics-informed newsroom leader to join its team of journalists serving Nevada’s Biggest Little City – and directly supporting sports reporters at four other USA TODAY Network newsrooms in Utah and California: The (St. George) Spectrum, Redding Record Searchlight, Visalia Times-Delta and The (Salinas) Californian.


This newly created position will provide strategic leadership to at least six sports reporters in five newsrooms, including two direct reports in Reno, where the Nevada Wolf Pack’s Division 1 teams are a local obsession.

You will be a leader in reinventing local high school and community sports coverage as we leave gamers in the rearview. We shouldn’t be the first to tell you that a winning sports strategy is the No. 1 way to grow digital subscriptions – you should be all over that already and be eager to show us your plan for capitalizing on it.

You’re not just a stat-head or a sports fan – although it’s cool if you are. You must be a fan of sports fans and a fan of community residents throughout three western states who demand authoritative news delivered with a direct impact on their lives. Your knowledge of SEO and how readers come to consume our content will serve you better than your ability to explain OPS.

The Gazette-Journal has long been a transformative force within the USA TODAY Network, and you’ll bring that to our sports coverage. We aren’t interested in talking about game coverage. However, talk to us about ranking everything, providing multimedia-rich coverage of athletes in action, insightful analysis of major trends and surprising insight into the people and forces influencing our local sports scene and you’ll have our attention.

The Reno Gazette-Journal is the leading news organization in Northern Nevada, focusing on journalism that aims to change lives and laws for the better. Its newsroom includes FAA-certified drone photographers, podcasters who’ve made nationally recognized shows and savvy public records hounds who consistently get results with their investigations. It’s won countless awards over the years, from a Pulitzer Prize to many top nods from the Nevada Press Association. Recently, some of its biggest accolades include a Murrow Award and a finalist nod for the Knight Award for Public Service. It’s been covering this part of the country for nearly 150 years.

Reno is part of a thriving metropolitan area that includes about 450,000 residents. While it’s known first for its downtown casinos, Reno has emerged as one of the top destinations to live for people who love the outdoors thanks to the vicinity of Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the Sierra Nevada range. If skiing is your kind of thing, it takes about a half-hour drive from downtown Reno to get on a chairlift. We’re located about two hours from Sacramento and four hours from the Bay Area. 

The Gazette-Journal is a digitally oriented newsroom that demands excellence in multi-platform storytelling. Want to wow us? Go beyond the byline. Show us how you can bring your work to readers in real time and via the many multimedia tools at your disposal. Show us excellent communication skills mixed with an inquisitive mind and a bold use of diverse sources. If you can show us those traits, we’d love to win with you.

Responsibilities:

  • Own the strategy for five distinct communities’ local sports coverage, supporting at least six reporters and building a loyal, passionate audience across the region.
  • Employ metrics, best practices and experimentation to grow both total audience and sports-driven digital subscriptions.
  • Directly lead the two-person Reno team’s coverage of Wolf Pack athletics, high school and community sports, and trending sports news of northern Nevada interest.
  • Work select nights and weekends to support and provide real-time coverage of Reno-Sparks sporting events.
  • Work with the USA TODAY Network regional sports editor to surface local-to-national reporting to USA TODAY and across our network properties.
  • Coach reporters to independent planning and self-direction – before, during and after the creation of content – helping them shape ideas and tailor content specific to audience and platform.
  • Story/line edit most Gazette-Journal sports content.
  • Consult and edit significant sports enterprise for the four smaller newsrooms.
  • Lead weekly and long-term planning of all five newsrooms’ sports content and ensure reporters are fully engaged with the overall strategy.
  • Create detailed advance content plans and work schedules in collaboration with reporters.
  • Ensure budgets are updated in a timely fashion so anyone in the Network can see what the sports reporters have coming on a daily, weekly and ongoing basis.
  • Work with our regional content strategy team to provide daily, weekly and long-term digital metrics analysis for sports reporters in all five newsrooms.
  • Serve as a versatile and active member of the Gazette-Journal newsroom leadership team.
  • Maintain close communication and coordination with regional executive editor based in Redding and with local editors in each newsroom. 

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field preferred or an equivalent combination of education and experience.  
  • Five years of media management experience.
  • Command of media law and the principles of ethical conduct.
  • Be an effective communicator; able to get along with diverse personalities.
  • Be passionate about (and skilled at) developing the careers and potential of your team members.
  • Experience with advanced storytelling techniques on multiple platforms.
  • Demonstrate the ability to hold yourself and those around you accountable to shared goals.
  • Ability to apply innovative, creative thinking to support the company’s goals.
  • Deep understanding of and curiosity about competition for our customer’s time and money.  
  • Experience editing and shaping watchdog and investigative journalism.
  • Exceptional planning and organizational skills.  
  • Understanding use of metrics, social media and SEO knowledge.  
  • Self-motivation and self-direction.  
  • Strong grasp of journalism skills (reporting and editing) and advanced knowledge of writing, spelling, grammar, AP and local style.  
  • Able to multi-task and excel under intense deadline pressure in a rapidly changing environment.  
  • Applies innovative, creative thinking to support the company’s goals.
  • The ability to work collaboratively.
  • A 24-hour news environment often requires employees to work extended hours, evenings, weekends and holidays, sometimes unexpectedly. 

Application Instructions:  

We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. When you apply, don’t limit your upload to a resume; show us what you’ve done. To do so, put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order: 

  1. Your resume – one to two pages.
  2. A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job. 

It is important that these items be assembled into a single document and uploaded in PDF format. Completing these steps will ensure that your application receives the highest consideration.

APPLY HERE

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