Two key beats have opened up at The Arizona Republic
azcentral is The Arizona Republic's Web site
Kathy Tulumello, business center director at the Arizona Republic, announced this week that she will be looking for two business journalists to fill the shoes of “two talented reporters” who are heading to new jobs, both in New York City.
Andrew Johnson has accepted a position as a technology reporter at American Banker in New York.
Erin Zlomek has accepted a reporting position in the New York office of Bloomberg news.
The two reporters covered key beats on the business desk – Johnson, a core business beat covering technology companies, aerospace and defense, and mining; and Zlomek, jobs and workplace.
“This is a vital beat in a state that has lost a larger percentage of jobs than Michigan in this recession,” Tulumello said. She added that she hopes to fill the positions as soon as possible.
Johnson said that it does seem like there are opportunities now for reporters who have a specific business focus or specialty.
“I love writing about information technology and security issues, which was why I was so excited about the reporting position at American Banker,” he said. “I think the fact that I’ve been covering technology at the Republic and have written about its impact on both consumers and businesses really helped me in my pursuit of the position.”
Zlomek didn’t start in business, like Johnson did.
“I never considered business journalism until I was out of college and had my first job as a general assignment reporter,” she said. “Some of the best stories that no one else was pursuing happened to be business-related, so I jumped in. I soon took over a neighborhood economic development beat. Three years later, I became an economy reporter covering jobs and workplace issues. At the end of this month, I start a new job at Bloomberg’s New York office covering breaking corporate news.”
Tulumello added: “The good news is that two Arizona Republic business reporters are moving on to jobs in financial journalism in New York City. It’s a dream come true for them and we celebrate their good fortune! Doubly good for us here at the business desk is that we get to replace them.”
The bad news: Applicants need to move fast. None of that journalist-procrastinating, please! I need all applications by Monday, March 22.
Anyone interested can e-mail her at kathy.tulumello@arizonarepublic.com or call with quetions: 602-444-8002.
Below are Tulumello’s descriptions of the beats.
Technology/aerospace/defense
Many of Arizona’s largest employers are in the semiconductor, aerospace and defense and mining sectors. The reporter on this beat should focus on identifying and writing about key industry trends — everything from how new technologies could create more tech jobs to the affects of globalization of manufacturing to the local impact of the price of copper.
In addition, this reporter will cover news and trends at many of Arizona’s major employers, including Intel, Honeywell Aerospace and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. The reporter also will cover emerging technologies and the smaller companies developing them.
The beat should be a mix of breaking news, mid-range enterprise and deeper digging. The ability to interpret securities filings, earnings reports and other data is a must, but we do have on-staff experts available for coaching.
Good communication is essential, as is a willingness to work within a team. This reporter will work directly with assistant business editor Mel Melendez.
Jobs/workplace
With employment at 9.1 percent in the state, our readers want to know how to cope with job loss and how to find another, more secure position in a rapidly changing economy. The jobs reporter would cover issues related to jobs, employment and unemployment. The focus should be on news of interest to the job seeker, the displaced worker and the underemployed worker and also on issues that affect the fully employed.
The beat is trend-oriented, news-oriented and tips-oriented. Trend stories should touch on major issues, from delivery of unemployment benefits to the evolution of job training to the state of workplace discrimination. News stories might touch on who’s hiring, and for what types of jobs. We also expect practical stories. These tips stories might cover everything from what careers are hot/cold, to how to deal with resume gaps, to maintaining work-life balance. These stories might run on A1, in the Business section or in the Sunday CareerBuilder package.
It’s a true multimedia beat. This reporter will host job chats and blog on azcentral and likely will appear on Channel 12 frequently to discuss jobs issues.
Good communication is essential, as is a willingness to work within a team. This reporter will work closely with Betty Beard, who covers the Arizona economy, and with Mel Melendez, CareerBuilder editor, and will report to Kathy Tulumello.
MISCELLANEOUS
In business, reporters also are expected to take GA shifts 2-3 times a month, handling whatever stories and briefs may be assigned.
Tulumello urged anyone interested: “Don’t be afraid! Simple interest in business topics is necessary, but we’ll provide on-the-job training.”
Zlomek summed up by saying something similar to what BusinessJournalism.org hear from a lot of business reporters:
“I do think that business journalism is often overlooked and that is unfortunate. The beat I’m leaving is a great opportunity for anyone who is fascinated by economic trends. It’s also great for a metro or political reporter who wants to give business reporting a try because you are not covering an industry. You are mostly covering government’s impact on business and vice versa. There are also a lot of great feature writing opportunities related to career and management issues.”
