Food Reporter

About the role

The Banner is seeking a Food Reporter to join our Arts & Culture team and cover one of the most important ways people experience the Baltimore region, through food.

What you'll cover

• Covering restaurant openings, closings, trends, and developments across Baltimore and surrounding counties.
• Finding and reporting on hidden gems, neighborhood favorites, long-standing institutions, and new dining experiences.
• Writing service journalism that helps readers decide where to eat, what to try, and what is changing in the local food scene.
• Reporting on the business, culture, labor, development, politics, and community issues connected to food.
• Building recurring guides, rankings, seasonal dining coverage, and reader-focused features that drive engagement and loyalty.
• Covering issues affecting the food industry, including workforce challenges, economic pressures, development projects, regulations, and changing consumer behavior.

What You’ll Do

• Pitch, report, and write a mix of breaking news, enterprise stories, profiles, service journalism, and long-form features about food, restaurants, and dining culture across the Baltimore region.
• Be the first to identify and cover major restaurant openings, closings, trends, and developments shaping the local food scene.
• Produce useful, reader-focused journalism that helps people discover new restaurants, hidden gems, neighborhood favorites, and memorable dining experiences.
• Develop ambitious stories that explore the intersection of food with business, culture, politics, development, labor, affordability, and community life.
• Build and maintain a deep source network that includes chefs, restaurateurs, hospitality workers, developers, liquor board members, neighborhood leaders, diners, and other stakeholders.
• Cover issues affecting the food industry, including workforce challenges, economic pressures, development projects, regulations, and changing consumer behavior.
• Collaborate with editors, photographers, designers, audience staff, and other newsroom partners to create compelling storytelling across platforms.
• Represent The Banner in the community through events, public appearances, television and radio interviews, and other audience engagement opportunities.
• Use audience data and analytics to identify opportunities for growth and better serve readers.

What You’ll Bring

• At least 5 years of journalism experience, preferably covering food, restaurants, dining, culture, business, or a related beat.
• Exceptional reporting, interviewing, and writing skills.
• A demonstrated ability to generate original story ideas and develop exclusive reporting.
• Strong news judgment and the ability to balance daily coverage with longer-term enterprise work.
• A strong interest in food, dining culture, restaurants, and the hospitality industry, paired with a commitment to rigorous journalism.
• The ability to explain complex issues clearly, accurately, and engagingly.
• Strong source-building skills and the ability to develop trust with people across different communities and industries.
• Experience using social media and other digital tools to report stories, identify trends, and connect with audiences.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven newsroom environment.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends as news and events require.
• Commitment to journalistic ethics, accuracy, fairness, and serving the public interest.

Salary Range

$70,000 - $85,000. Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by several factors, including experience, internal pay equity, and other relevant business considerations. This role is not eligible for corporate bonus opportunity.

Our amazing benefits

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Retailer savings - 401K plan offered through Human Interest, with a company match
• Student Loan Debt Repayment Assistance for qualified employees
• Full health benefits - medical, dental, vision, prescription, FSA/HSA., and coverage for family/dependents
• Sick Leave eligible for rollover
• Commuter Benefits
• 11 Paid National Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous Parental Leave
• Company paid access to a wellness platform to support mental, financial and physical wellbeing

Our Core Values

• Do what’s right. Honesty, morality, respect and the mission guide our actions and decisions. By doing the right thing, we inspire others to believe.
• Work together. We collaborate to create something special. Together we challenge assumptions, trust each other, take risks, and foster transparent and direct communication.
• Listen to be heard. Our stories are trustworthy. They are inspired by and created for our readers. Their story is our story. Communities are at the center of our journalism, and everything we do.
• Deliver impactful results. Acting as one accountable team and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, we deliver bold and innovative results. We act fast, execute and learn. We celebrate great outcomes.
• Be inclusive. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and act by curating a culture that leverages diverse perspectives as the key to fulfilling our mission. The Banner is for all of us.