Join MainStreet

TheStreet is looking for personal finance writers to create content for its Web site MainStreet.com in New York.
Applicants should have at least three year's experience in writing online, an understanding of financial issues and strong investigative skills. Candidates should also posses a distinctive writing voice and the ability to write clean copy.
To apply, e-mail your resume, cover letter and clips to resumes@thestreet.com with "MainStreet Writer" in the subject line.

View the job posting here.

The seven qualities of the 21st century journalist

Joe Grimm of JobsPage.com posted an article today on a talk by Owen Youngman, a Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy.
At a recent discussion with Northwestern’s National High School Institute journalism students, Youngman talked about the basic qualities he believes all 21st century journalists will need in order to survive. The seven traits he listed as invaluable:

• Accuracy
  
• Self-Awareness
• Numeracy
  
• Appropriateness
  
• Business Savvy
• Audience Awareness
• Adaptability
  

Numeracy is a trait we at the Reynolds Center believe all journalists should have because of how essential it is in a variety of reporting beats. From the article:

"To be accurate, we have to understand and handle numbers better. They are embedded in almost every story we do and they become even more important in an age when so much of what happens online is data driven."

To improve number-literacy, Youngman suggested the book "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper". We suggest some of our short online tutorials for brushing up on basic math and business information. We also recommend this article for budding business journalists.

Learn more about the seven traits here.

Invest your skills in Investopedia

Investopedia, economic Web site and good friend to business journalists everywhere, is looking for freelance financial writers with an edge.
The writers would create content for its new Financial Edge channel. Due to the nature of the work, writers can live anywhere in the country and telecommute to work.
To apply, send an e-mail with your resume, cover letter, clips and an unpublished sample of the kind of writing you would contribute to Financial Edge to editors@investopedia.com

View the job posting here.

Direct student media in Mississippi

The University of Southern Mississippi is looking for a director for their new Student Media Center. The center contains a radio station, a television production facility, the student newspaper and a student-operated public relations agency.
The director will lead all of the different center operations and develop resources to both support the center and offer paid positions for students within student media.
Applicants should have a bachelor's degree and at least 15 years' experience in professional media or a master's degree in journalism or mass communication along with 5 years' experience as a professional in the media industry.
To apply, submit the following to this Web site:

• A resume or curriculum vitae
• The names and contact information (including e-mail addresses) of three references
• A letter discussing your qualifications and your interest in the position

Finalists for the position will need to submit work samples, transcripts and three letter of recommendation. Applications will start to be reviewed Aug. 10.

To learn more about the position, click here.

Spend a week entrenched in energy

If you're passionate about energy and keep tabs on aspects like costs, trends and market impact, the McCormick Energy Solutions Conference is for you.

The goal of the conference is to provide a small group of journalists with direct access to national leaders and the time to delve deeper into energy research and policy analysis. All expenses are paid for selected attended. The conference will be held on September 20-22 at The Ohio State University.

Speakers will include:
• Dr. Steven Koonin, newly appointed Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy
• Richard Sandor, "father of carbon trading" and founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange
• Don McConnell, President of Energy Technology at Battelle, the world's largest nonprofit research and development organization

The application deadline is Aug. 12.To apply click here.

Wanted: Rhode Island reporter

Providence Business News is looking for a business journalist to add to its newsroom. The locally-owned paper is looking for a reporter, preferably with a business background, to cover a wide variety of business issues in its surrounding community.
To apply, email your resume and clips to editor@pbn.com or mail them to:

Mark Murphy, Editor
Providence Business News
220 W. Exchange St.
Providence, RI 02903

Dow Jones is looking for reporters and editors

Dow Jones has four full-time reporting positions available right now. You can apply for jobs including:

• Reporting Assistant
• Equities Reporter
• Title Reporter
• Federal Reserve Reporter
  

It is also offering 6 different editing positions. To see the list of available news and editorial positions at Dow Jones, click here.

TheStreet wants you!

TheStreet has several open positions for business journalists and editors just calling your name. Some of the staff they're looking for:

• A senior editor of personal finance with four years' previous experience to manage a team of writers and editors, edit content, create story ideas, and orchestrate freelancers.
  

• An options reporter to cover the options market for both skilled and novice investors as well as write a subscription newsletter.

• A MainStreet.com staff writer who can create content on personal finance with flair and star in videos for the organization's new site.
  

• A community editor to increase traffic to the site, pitch new content packages to partners, and help evolve TheStreet's use of social media including blogs, communities and syndication.

To apply, email your resume, salary requirements and other requested material to resumes@thestreet.com with the job title or department you're applying to in the subject line and body of the email.

Resumes can also be mailed to:

TheStreet.com
14 Wall Street, 15th floor
New York, NY 10005

Or faxed to: 212.321.5015

For more information on the positions, click here.

To learn more about TheStreet, visit their LinkedIn page here.

Miami Herald appoints new biz editor

In the midst of a economic downturn, reporters on The Miami Herald's business desk are working to tell the story about how the economy effects its readers.
And now they'll have a new editor leading the charge - Jane Wooldridge, a 26-year newsroom veteran who was appointed to the lead biz role this week.
Wooldridge is currently the paper's travel editor. A story in the Herald says that she was chosen for "her combination of long service to the newspaper, experience with entrepreneurial projects, knowledge of the business community and strength of new ideas for the section."
From the story:

"Wooldridge said she foresees no dramatic change in the section's direction. "The core stories that we have told we will continue to tell rigorously. We want stories that are useful and relevant to readers."

Philly papers to charge for online content

By the end of this year, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News will charge for online content.
In a Reuters story, Brian Tierney, chief executive of the company that owns the papers, also said he has plans to take on Google over possibly getting money for Philadelphia Media Holdings from its content that resides on the search engine’s site.
From the story:

"In the case of the Philly papers, Tierney’s company is going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization proceedings. With the company’s life on the line and a $53 million newsroom to run, what’s the harm in trying?"

Hopkins to halt Gannett Blog

Jim Hopkins, founder of Gannett Blog, announced that he will cease the publication on Oct. 1.
The blog, which was founded in 2007 and chronicles stories about Gannett Co. and its employees, gained immerse popularity quickly after it was launched. Currently, its readers are projected to post more than 50,000 comments in a 12-month period.
But Hopkins says the tone of the blog has changed as employees fear for their jobs and worry over troubles in the newspaper industry.
And he added that Gannett Blog was intended only as a short-term project.
Hopkins plans to freeze the blog in October and leave all content up. He predicts and hopes another blogger will pick up where he left off.
From the blog:

"I intend to lock the blog in place, with all content and comments visible. No more comments will be allowed, nor removed. Basically, Gannett Blog will become a point-in-time snapshot of a Fortune 500 company in transition. I hope to find a permanent custodian for the content, in lieu of Google's Blogger division."

Biz Journalist wins Livingston Award

Wall Street Journal business reporter, Kate Kelly, is one of three winners of the $10,000 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists for 2008 work.

Kelly won the award in the national reporting category for "Lost Opportunities Haunt Final Days of Bear Stearns," her three-part series on the collapse of the Bear Stearns company.

The Livingston Awards are limited to journalists under the age of 35 and are awarded in local, national, and international reporting. 

The 50 finalists for this year's competition were widdled down to three and winners were announced today by Charles Gibson of ABC News, Ken Auletta of The New Yorker and Anna Quindlen of Newsweek today.

View the winners list here.

Still hope for newspapers

In a recent Forbes.com article, Lauren Rich Fine, director of research at ContentNext Media, urges newspapers employees to expand their boundaries and challenge current media norms with creative alternatives in order to prolong their longevity.
"The world is changing. Newspapers need to change with it," said Fine who also is a practitioner in residence at Ohio’s Kent State University College of Communication & Information.
Fine suggests media companies re-vamp their community relationships by having reporters interact more with residents. Also, newspapers can add value to their content for the communities they serve by embracing new media options for better engagement.

New biz writers for TheAtlantic.com

Mediabistro reports that TheAtlantic.com has added a new line-up of writers on its site.
The new staff includes some key business reporters:
* Author and business journalist Daniel Akst
* Scientist, biotech entrepreneur and investor William Haseltine
* Writer on energy and environment Lisa Margonelli
* Historian of technology and culture Edward Tenner
For the full list click here.

How newsroom cuts may impact SEC

Reuters reports that Mary Schapiro, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said she is concerned that job cuts in newsrooms may hinder the SEC's ability to crack down on illegal behavior.

"It's an absolute worry for me because I think financial journalists have in many cases been the sources of some really important enforcement cases and really important discovery of practices and products that regulators should be profoundly concerned about," the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission told Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit in Washington on Tuesday. "But for journalists having been dogged and determined and really pursuing some of these things, they might not be known to the regulators or they might not be known for a long time," she said.

Schapiro then urged laid-off journalists to apply for jobs at the SEC. She said investigative journalism may be an "interesting skill set" that could be very useful to the agency. "[The SEC] has to really broaden its horizons and bring in people who think about things a little differently than it has historically," she said.

For more click here.

Georgia's Rome News-Tribune has a new business editor

Bryant Steele, a veteran journalist, was recently named the new business editor for Georgia's Rome News-Tribune.
Steele worked as a reporter for the Augusta Chronicle and editor and columnist for The Macon Telegraph. He also worked at AT&T editing seven corporate magazines and newsletters.
While at AT&T, Steele traveled oversees to work in The Netherlands to edit a seven-language customer newsletter and technical journal.
His work also has been published in Newsweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Charlotte Observer.
“I figured out early in life that ink runs through my veins, and I’ve long thought I’d like to settle in Rome someday. So I’m delighted for this opportunity,” said Steele. “I hope the news that we bring to our readers will be discussed over cups of coffee and around water coolers daily.”
For the complete release click here.