Local Democracy Reporter - BirminghamLive

Local Democracy Reporter
- Birmingham Live

• Full-time
• Contract Type:
  Fixed Term Contract - 12 Months
• Location:
  
  Home & Hub
  - Birmingham
• Division:
  Editorial
• Salary Currency: GBP Sterling
• Department:
  Regionals

Do you want to shine a light on the daily decisions of councils, to ensure politicians keep their promises and to break essential stories about public interest issues?

We are looking for someone to join us on a 12 month fixed term contract as a Local Democracy Reporter to live and breathe the decisions being made by Walsall Council in the heart of the West Midlands.

Hello, we’re Reach. Every day, our trusted news, stories and content connect with millions of people where they live - whether that’s on their social feed or at their neighbourhood newsstand; through their local community or their take on the hot topic of the day.

We're home to more than 120 brands - from household names like the Mirror, Express, Daily Star and Daily Record, to local titles like MyLondon, Belfast Live, and the Manchester Evening News, and brands making a splash in the US like the Irish Star.

It's our ability to understand people and the things that matter to them that makes us Britain and Ireland's largest commercial news publisher. We reach around 70% of the UK's online population, 10% of the US online population, and over 100 million social followers around the world, connecting with them on who they are, where they live and what they love.

As a modern media organisation, we're much more than just news. And it takes a wide range of people and skills to serve diverse audiences, customers and communities like we do.

We know everyone has their own story to tell, so we’ve built an environment where every background is respected and every day is a day to explore.

We’ll help you build a career that works with your life, while giving you the space to create and grow.

From the state of roads to local schools to new recycling services, every one of us is affected by the decisions that councils make.

You will be part of a team of 165 reporters working throughout the UK to hold local authorities and public bodies to account through a BBC-supported service.

Your work will mean that everyone in Birmingham and the West Midlands will get to hear about what the council are doing in their name

If you’re a politically-minded reporter
, ready to stalk the corridors of power in Birmingham and the West Midlands searching for brilliant and engaging stories for our audience then this is the position for you!

We’re looking for fresh ideas and new perspectives from people from a wide range of backgrounds, and we want you to tell us the stories you believe are important from our many communities so we can continue to diversify our content.

This role is home and hub based and linked to our Birmingham Hub. We are therefore open to candidates based in and around Walsall, or with the ability to travel into the office.

You will be expected to occasionally attend in person meetings outside of normal hours, so will need the ability to be flexible around this.

• You’ll be covering the work of the Walsall Council as well as the political and social issues affecting the community
• Making sure you cover the council meetings and key decisions in a timely manner
• You will build contacts, understand and explore the key issues, write features and break exclusives with your work having the potential to also be shown on the BBC Homepage

• You are an NCTJ qualified journalist
  , with an understanding and interest in the issues of your local community
• Previous experience reporting on local government/councils
• You have the ability to pull the stories out of the local council meetings that our readers want to know about
• A good…