Last year we said goodbye to Zach Shaner, as he moved on from being STB’s paid writer to the next stage of his career. It was painful, but that spot turned into Lizz Giordano, who quickly became our go-to reporter on a variety of subjects. Now Lizz is moving on to a position at the Everett Herald, where she will deliver her brand of well-researched and technically curious writing to that audience. Our sadness at seeing Lizz leave is tempered by our excitement at her opportunity to work on a bigger stage.

If Snohomish County matters to you, subscribe to the Herald and support the creation of more high-quality journalism. But for us, this means we have an opening again.

***

We’re looking for a skilled writer with an interest in transit and land use issues and open to a part-time position. He or she would be responsible for a few pieces a week, although hours (and therefore output) are negotiable. Reporting skills are more important than domain expertise. However, knowledge of the local political terrain, transit operations, and land use issues are assets. Outside of the land use and transit beats, you’d be free to use the remainder of your time to pursue other writing opportunities.

Responsibilities:

  • Pitch unique stories and follow up on leads
  • Take assignments from designated officers
  • Cover breaking news
  • Establish and maintain relationships/sources
  • Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

  • At least 1 year of reporting, blogging or similar experience
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • A schedule that allows occasional coverage of afternoon and evening events
  • Ability to succeed with light supervision
  • Knowledge of relevant local politics, transit, and land use issues a plus

Salary depends on experience, but we’re competitive with many other media outlets. If you’d like to give it a shot, send an email with a resume and three writing samples to contact@seattletransitblog.wpcomstaging.com by May 11th.

14 Replies to “We’re Hiring a Reporter”

    1. Yeah, good for her. Tough times for reporters. Nice to hear she got a job at a newspaper.

    2. Seconded. I enjoyed hearing Lizz on the podcast – now, she’s leaving too soon. But great news for her!

    3. +1. I remember Lizz when she was at the Issaquah Press, and appreciated seeing her write here after that paper folded. Glad she’s getting a great opportunity with the Herald!

    4. Thanks Lizz for being on the podcast; I meant to put that in the podcast comments but never had an opportune time. I appreciated learning about the person behind the articles, and how much preparation you put into the Eastside series. Good luck in your new job; the Herald made a good choice. And thanks for your Eastside series.

  2. The Everett Herald has been mentioned before on STB, mainly for the high quality of its transit reporting and the stance of its editorial board. There have even been wishes that the Herald would publish a Seattle edition, or that there was a Seattle paper with such an editorial board.

    1. The Herald and the Seattle Weekly actually share owners and frequently cross-post articles. The publisher actually owns a lot of local papers (Bellevue/Redmond/Renton/Tukwila Reporter, Marysville Globe, Arlington Times) and it shows in the shared website design.

  3. What does this mean? ” Outside of the land use and transit beats, you’d be free to use the remainder of your time to pursue other writing opportunities.” Does that mean to write off-topic articles that would be published? Or would not be published [by STB but may be published elsewhere]? Or does it just reemphasize that it’s a part-time job and in the rest of their time they can pursue other writing jobs?

    1. Not Martin, but I imagine it means that all transit/land use writing would need to be published on STB, but that the person is free to write on other topics elsewhere.

      Bye Lizz, I will miss your reporting. Congrats on the Herald gig!

  4. Congratulations, Lizz. But given that wikipedia will now be listing your experiences as a public transportation reporter who has worked in Seattle, as your career in Everett will now coincide with major efforts in public transit, here’s an important reference:

    O. Casey Corr, who provided The Seattle Times with razor sharp incisive coverage of the bus tunnel project, whose tunnel now carries LINK. I think he’s with Crosscut now. He will doubtless give you some pointers on how to report on transit no matter how hard it squirms.

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/43315334@N07/27633891278/in/dateposted-public/

    Also just for reporting experience in general, every episode of The Night Stalker, featuring an old-school reporter whose editor, in spite of all poor Kolchak’s hundred percent success in finding vampires, live Aztec mummies,etc. never believes anything Karl is desperately and truthfully telling him.

    Covering the bus tunnel was probably exactly the same for Casey, because while everybody knew there was a mad undead blood-stealing civil war doctor hiding in the Pioneer Square Underground…..what editor in the world would EVER have believed the DSTT, especially the buses that obviously were zombies?

    Hope Martin and Frank never pulled that on you! Because everybody at Sound Transit knows that LINK actually resulted when the legendary James R. Ellis (he really is real!) purchased the real estate space time warp to make those Kinki Sharyo cars emerge from the stub tunnel into Westlake Station on time for opening.

    But getting off LINK at Pioneer Square Station just at closing the other night, perfect training video for you suddenly appeared on my smart-phone screen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzPooqlZ84

    And just remember. Karl Kolchak’s boss kept him on salary too, so you’ll always be ok.

    Mark Dublin

  5. I am a SW Snohomish County resident and am thrilled to hear that Lizz is going to be joining the Everett Herald reporting team. I have really enjoyed reading her news pieces here on this blog for the relatively short time I’ve been coming here. I’m sorry to see her leave this platform but am looking forward to continuing to read her fine work on what has become my local paper.

    Congratulations!

  7. I nominate Joe, A 12 for Transit to be the new reporter! He seems to be everywhere I read about transit issues!

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