Data Reporter

Join one of Baltimore's Best Places to Work!

The Baltimore Banner is looking for an experienced Data Reporter to join its award-winning data team. We are looking for an innovative thinker who can wrangle data into stories, charts, and interactive features and experiment with new technologies and trends.

The Baltimore Banner is a data-oriented newsroom. You will work with other reporters to develop and report the most important stories and data products our newsroom produces. The Data Reporter will leverage data primarily to uncover, verify, and contextualize stories that matter.

We are open to many different types of data expertise. The successful candidate will demonstrate a passion for their work and have a clear vision for what they hope to accomplish. Journalism experience is a big plus but not a requirement. Expertise on a specific beat is a plus, but this position is expected to work across multiple beats.

Responsibilities:

• Pitch and report data-driven stories that are relentlessly interesting and hold officials and institutions to account
• Collaborate with newsroom reporters and other data journalists to elevate our ongoing coverage with data reporting and data visualizations
• Become an expert on the databases you analyze and be prepared to use that expertise to cover breaking and enterprise news
• Acquire data through multiple means, including public records requests, scraping and begging

Requirements:

• A proven track record of reporting data-driven stories that reveal meaningful insights and hold officials and institutions accountable through rigorous investigative work
• Ability to analyze large data sets, including geospatial data, using programming languages like Python and R
• Ability to do traditional reporting like make phone calls and conduct interviews
• Ability to create supporting data visualizations that enhance storytelling using tools like Datawrapper and ai2html
• Detail-orientated, inquisitive nature, and devoted to learning and development
• Enthusiastic collaborator, especially with non-technical partners
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to give and receive constructive feedback
• A commitment to upholding journalist values and ethics

Salary Range: $75,000 - $92,500 Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by several factors including experience, internal pay equity, and other relevant business considerations. We constantly review all teammate pay to ensure a great compensation package that is fair and equal across the board.

Our amazing benefits include:

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Retirement savings - 401K plan offered through Human Interest, with a company match
• Student Loan Debt Repayment Assistance for qualified employees
• Full health benefits - medical, dental, vision, prescription, FSA/HSA., and coverage for family/dependents
• Sick Leave eligible for rollover 
• Commuter Benefits
• 11 Paid National Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous Parental Leave
• Company paid access to a wellness platform to support mental, financial and physical wellbeing

Application Submission:

Please include a cover letter and résumé. In your cover letter, please highlight three different types of stories or data projects you have worked on along with a brief description of your role.

About the Company: 

The Baltimore Banner is a nonprofit newsroom founded to bring high-quality local journalism to the Baltimore metro area. We are creating a vibrant, strong, trustworthy, and sustainable news organization, seeking to re-imagine the future of local news. Using a multi-platform news operation, covering a broad range of topics from local government to culture and the arts. We tell stories that reflect the community, connecting neighbors, holding government institutions accountable, and making sense of the world. All this work is grounded in truth. We believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed, and whole Baltimore, surrounding counties, and the state of Maryland. 

We take pride in our core values that outline how we work. If you possess the qualifications outlined above and resonate with the cultural elements below, we look forward to exploring this opportunity with you.

Our Core Values:

• Do what’s right. Honesty, morality, respect and the mission guide our actions and decisions. By doing the right thing, we inspire others to believe.
• Work together. We collaborate to create something special. Together we challenge assumptions, trust each other, take risks, and foster transparent and direct communication.
• Listen to be heard. Our stories are trustworthy. They are inspired by and created for our readers. Their story is our story. Communities are at the center of our journalism, and everything we do.
• Deliver impactful results. Acting as one accountable team and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, we deliver bold and innovative results. We act fast, execute and learn. We celebrate great outcomes.
• Be inclusive. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and act by curating a culture that leverages diverse perspectives as the key to fulfilling our mission. The Banner is for all of us.

The Venetoulis Institute embraces diversity and inclusion, and we are wholeheartedly committed to being proactive in inspiring a culture of inclusion across our organization. We are dedicated to establishing an organization that reflects the fundamental respect for different ways of working and living, and we assure every employee the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodation due to a disability to participate in the application process, please contact careers@thebaltimorebanner.com to request accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to, adjustments in the application process, modifications or assistance regarding job interviews, and accommodations to enable access to our facilities. We appreciate the value that individuals with disabilities bring to our workforce and encourage applicants with disabilities to disclose their needs for accommodation to facilitate a smooth and inclusive recruitment experience.