These roles
present an exciting opportunity for digitally-savvy journalists to unearth the best breaking news, features, leisure and trending stories from across their patch.
You will be delivering the sort of fast, agile and dynamic coverage that our readers expect and deserve in 2020.
You will be passionate about digital storytelling, with a desire to come up with new and innovative ways of telling those stories using a vast array of different skills, tools and platforms.
A big part of the job will also be immersing yourself in social media to help you tell your stories, develop relationships in your area and discover what it is that gets your community talking.
We want to tell the stories our communities care about – everything from what is happening on the roads to the latest on crime on our streets and in the courts, as well as the best new shops, restaurants and bars (and the ones to avoid!).

Key responsibilities
Writing high-quality, accurate news stories, live blogs and features to deadlines as agreed by news editors
Using a range of digital tools and platforms to tell stories, including video, audio, infographics and maps
Crafting and posting social media posts to sell your stories and drive engagement
Using social media to build contacts and sniff out the best stories from your community
Being first to report accurate breaking news from your patch to keep readers bang up to date
Thinking creatively to come up with new story ideas and ways to deliver them to our audience
Staying on top of the latest Google search trends (and UK Today topics) and exploiting those opportunities on a local level relevant to our readership
Building our digital audience and social media following to bring our content to even more people in the community
Spotting national/regional content that could resonate in your patch and making it relevant and interesting to our readers
Keeping on top of what is happening at magistrates’ court and reporting the best stories, as well as weekly listings/results
Developing ideas produced by colleagues and our community content network to drill down into issues locally and adapt them for a digital audience
Using your SEO skills to reach the largest possible audience
With guidance from editors, using analytics to identify what our readers like and what they want next
Building contacts in the community and getting out and about on your patch to see what’s really going on
Joining forces with your counterparts across the UK to share ideas, best practice, success stories and skills

Our ideal candidate will have:
NCTJ qualification (including 100wpm shorthand)
Excellent knowledge of relevant media law
A zippy, fresh writing style
Exceptional attention to detail
The ability to write – and think – quickly under pressure
An adaptable style to produce everything from live blogs and listicles to long-reads and features
Skills with shooting and editing video as well as online tools and apps for producing images and audio
A keen news sense
Bags of ideas for how stories can be presented in the best possible way for our audiences
An understanding of what audiences want, and when
A good sense of humour

Knowledge of SEO and its importance to digital journalism
Excellent social media skills and the ability to spot stories and trending topics
Great people skills and the ability to get on with a wide range of people in the community
A high level of organisation and the ability to manage your own diary out on patch
Collaborative skills to pool ideas with the wider digital reporting team and take on board suggestions
If this sounds like the job for you, email your CV to amanda.langton@localiq.co.uk by 10 July 2020.