Job Post: Legal Reporter.
Employer: Tax Analysts, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
Industry: Digital Media.
Specialty: Financial Writing.
Job Status: Full-time.
Salary: Negotiable.
Job Description:
- Based in the corporate office, works independently, often from various locations, to write tax-related news stories by attending scheduled meetings, press conferences, and events for the State Tax Today online daily publication.
- Conducts interviews, research, and fact-checking. Cultivates sources and follows leads to scoop industry competitors. Has a law degree and generally has or develops a particular area of technical tax expertise to identify trends and spot the news.
- Attends, writes, and reports on scheduled tax-related state events with government speakers, Congressional hearings, court decisions, industry press conferences, and other events as assigned with the ability to tailor writing style as appropriate.
- Writes and develops news stories and analytical articles for print and electronic publications.
- Able to grasp and cover complex tax topics frequently under deadline pressure, zeroing in on what matters without dumbing it down. Proactively seeks out story ideas while balancing daily assignments.
- Identifies, tracks, and prioritizes developments in assigned beat to ensure competitive coverage in print and online. Helps out the team, but is independent and motivated.
- Collects information by regularly speaking with top practitioners and government officials, attending industry events, obtaining relevant source material, and researching tips and leads.
- Communicates story ideas, provides updates on writing assignments, and responds promptly to queries during the editing process. Attends weekly editorial meetings.
- May be required to travel to cover tax-related events in other cities.
- Adheres to established publication deadlines and style protocols (daily deadline is generally 5 PM).
Knowledge and Skills:
- Solid grounding in tax law fundamentals; ability to wade through complicated topics to identify insights valuable to our subscribers.
- Strong writing skills with attention to detail and diligent sourcing essential
- Superior communication skills to effectively interact and develop source relationships with top government officials and their staffs, academics, lobbyists, and tax practitioners.
- Ability to write clearly and quickly under daily deadline pressure and work as a team to adjust to changing priorities.
- Beat reporting experiences a plus.
- Must be able to use a laptop to connect to the network remotely, follow-up promptly with email inquiries from editors (particularly when working remotely) and transfer stories in a timely manner.
- Must be capable of aggressively pursuing all angles of a given story.
- Must be willing to travel.
- Demonstrated dependability through punctual attendance (in the corporate office or at assigned events).
Qualifications:
- Advanced degree in a related field required, J.D. strongly preferred, LL.M. preferred.
- Tax, budget, or business reporting experience or specialized tax competence preferred.
- Proficiency with MS Windows, Word, and Internet searching.
