THE JOB
Agence France-Presse is seeking a dynamic English-language journalist to cover macro economic news in its busy Washington, DC office, AFP's main hub for North America.
Working under the direction of the North America editorial management, you will write and edit stories at ground zero for the global economy, where trade and economic policy developments can have dramatic implications for the world.
While the eco team reports on a huge range of financial and business news from the stock market to company earnings and labor disputes, the macroeconomic journalist’s primary focus is more on government policy, Federal Reserve decisions, trade relations and international financial institutions.
But the brief extends much further to explore how economic issues and interests intersect with everything from tech to climate change and high-stakes diplomacy.
Excellent writing skills, accuracy and attention to detail are required, along with strong news judgment. You must be able to react quickly to breaking developments, synthesize complex economic issues, put them in a broader global context and explain why they are important while making them accessible to a global audience.
Premium is placed on concise and snappy articles. You also will translate stories from French.
In the gaps in the breaking news, you will find ways to get out of the office to look for original angles to explain the American economy to the world, especially with strong visual stories that lend themselves to video, photos and graphics.
The hours can be long -- and include occasional weekends -- as we cover the world's biggest economy, where government policy can change on a dime. Grace under pressure is essential: we regularly juggle multiple story lines simultaneously and have to jump onto breaking stories at a moment's notice.
You must be a team player, flexible and able to maintain a sense of humor while multitasking.
You should have a keen eye for the visual aspect of coverage and coordinate with the photo, video and graphics departments.
You will closely monitor social media and strictly adhere to the Agency's guidelines on social media activity.
You will contribute to the fight against misinformation by offering any assistance needed to the digital investigation teams in the network and you will ensure that you are trained in the various methods of online verification, now indispensable for all journalism. Online training is available here.
As a general rule, you will commit to respecting AFP's ethics charter as well as all the editorial guidelines in force and in the Agency's style guide.
In an ever-changing media environment, the nature of the job could evolve in line with coverage demands and the requirements of an increasingly diverse client base.
SKILLS REQUIRED
- At least three years reporting experience, including coverage of business and economic news.
- An ability to generate original story ideas, including compelling focus/analysis pieces and lively features.
- Excellent writing and editing skills, able to translate jargon and numbers into elegant prose.
- An eagle eye for inaccuracies or mistakes.
- An instinct to react quickly to breaking news.
- Familiarity with social media, in particular as a news source.
- The working language is English, but a good level of French is helpful for translating the output of Francophone colleagues
APPLICATIONS
If you are interested in applying, please send a cover letter and resume/CV to: AFP-US-[email protected]