Freelance Reporter: Ontario County

Responsibilities Cover Ontario County: town and village boards, school districts, courts, police and fire, business openings and closings, and the community events people actually turn out for
Pitch stories out of your own community, and take assignments from our News Director when something breaks near you
File clean, accurate copy on deadline. Most stories run 300 to 600 words
Send at least one usable photo with every story. A phone camera is fine
Get names, titles, and numbers right the first time, and tell us fast if something needs correcting
Be reachable when news happens on your beat, even if you can't always take it
Work with our newsroom when a story is worth adapting for broadcast
Qualifications You live in or near Ontario County and know the towns, not just the county name
Solid writing and interviewing skills. You can get a public official on the phone and ask the follow-up question
A real commitment to accuracy and fairness. We run corrections publicly and would rather not have to
Reliable transportation and the ability to get to a meeting or a scene
Comfortable filing by email, or in WordPress if you've used it
Willing to disclose anything that would conflict with covering your community: an elected seat, a board appointment, a PR or campaign client. We can work around most of them. We can't work around the ones we don't know about.
Reporting experience helps, but a track record of getting things right matters more than a degree
Working journalists, retired journalists, freelance writers, and students are all encouraged to apply

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