[image-1]There are some nutty job descriptions out there for media jobs these days, ones ladled with layers of responsibility and buzzwords in the new do-more-with-less-but-definitely-periscope-your-live-Facebook-video-appearance landscape, but few rise to the absurdity of this job posting from Advance Ohio/Cleveland.com putting the call out for a Crime Reporter.
You’d be forgiven for not wading through all 728 words, but if you did that you’d discover that there’s more to being a Crime Reporter these days than simply reporting on crime. There’s also high school football. (And local government. Mainly local government. Also corruption and platforms. But also high school football.)

The Role
As a crime reporter, you will be assigned to a geographic area to report and produce stories on high-value topics of interest to the community, particularly about local government. You’ll be focused on how the governments in your area are spending tax money, knowing who the decision-makers are and understanding their backgrounds, and generally digging in to ask questions and create a strong platform to help root out corruption. You will also attend and lend your talents to help cover high school football during football season to help increase penetration in your area.

The reality of news in the digital age is that it is instant. With a tech-savvy audience that engages daily news through multiple platforms, you will be tasked with leveraging social media and other platforms. It will be your mission to develop ideas and interesting ways to cover local topics, and then identify related stories to maintain interest. You’ll shoot video, take pictures, and quickly post copy that is compelling and accurate. In other words, you’ll be accountable for meeting audience demand for immediacy, depth and engagement, through real-time news and digital media interaction.

The line starts at 1801 Superior Ave., prospective crime/government/sports reporters.

This article appears in May 11-17, 2016.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

5 replies on “Cleveland.com Is Looking for a Crime Reporter Who Will Also Cover High School Football and Local Government”

  2. Maybe they can sniff out some corrupt local official committing a crime (accepting a bribe under the stands, perhaps) at a high school football game.

    They can shoot video of the nefarious transaction, take fuzzy pictures from a hidden camera, leverage outraged tweets on social media, and quickly post copy that engages their tech-savvy audience with its immediacy, depth and engagement,

    And, as a rookie, earn jackshit for doing all of the above..

    Chuckles the Clown

  3. “Crime Reporter Who Will Also… Local Government”

    Well, that makes sense at least. Large overlap.

  4. “The job posting you are looking for has expired or the position has already been filled. If you are interested in one of our other opportunities, please visit our career site.”

  5. The job has already been filled, so I’m guessing they’ve found some desperate kid straight out of college that has no idea what he or she is doing, will follow orders, won’t rock the boat in the least, and is willing to work for peanuts. A kid willing to report six paragraphs about a guy getting stabbed, and then able to print the online box score of the Cleveland Heights-Garfield Heights football game.

Comments are closed.