Staff Reporter, Marine Corps Times
Marine Corps Times, a Sightline Media Group brand, covers how operational, personnel and readiness decisions are made and what it means to Marines across the globe. Our readers are active-duty Marines, veterans and their families, as well as decision-makers at the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.
At Sightline, beat reporters are the pulse of the organization. They break stories, find indispensable scoops, write best-of-class enterprise stories and develop plugged-in sources who help readers understand what's happening in the Marine Corps.
We have an immediate opening for a full-time journalist to cover the Marine Corps.
This job requires:
- A thorough interest in and understanding of the military and the Marine Corps, or an aptitude to learn it quickly.
- Digesting and reporting military data and trends as well as what’s on the minds of troops, veterans and their families.
- Communicating closely with an editor and other reporters to make sure we’re covering all the important Marine Corps topics.
- The flexibility to juggle reporting and writing daily, weekly and monthly news and enterprise stories, both for print and online.
- Developing a deep network of sources to stay ahead of the competition.
- Routinely filing freedom of information requests when agencies and the military won’t cough up the goods.
- Crafting ambitious magazine cover stories to include profiles, investigations, military culture pieces and explainers.
- Occasionally appearing on camera to discuss your work.
Our ideal candidate has at least three years of relevant journalism experience and:
- Proactive beat reporting experience and a proven track record of finding scoops.
- An obsession with objective journalism, both in the newsroom and in your public image, and a history of producing balanced and fair news stories.
- Strong knowledge of and adherence to Associated Press style.
- The ability to get stubborn sources to call you back, open up and then call back again. Bonus points if this already has happened with a Marine general.
- A professional, positive and energetic attitude that can garner respect from Marines and media professionals alike.
- Creativity and a contemporary approach to storytelling across digital and print platforms.
We don’t want a stenographer or a reactive reporter. We want someone who is thinking about what’s next, looks past buzzwords, won’t easily be led and thinks hard about the consequences of every word. The story of the day might not be a good fit for our readers, while an overlooked story might be very consequential.
Sometimes the job requires parsing the nitty-gritty of defense legislation or combing through budget books. We sweat details. Our editors value accuracy, clarity and a good story.
About Sightline
Sightline is the leading news organization covering military, defense, C4ISR and cyber defense. Its publications include Defense News, Military Times, Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times, Air Force Times, C4ISRNET and Federal Times.
