All Things Urban

NRU Publishing Inc. is a Toronto-based publishing company, originally established in 1997. The company’s initial mandate was to be fully knowledgeable about the news, people, activities and services of municipal government and urban planning in the newly amalgamated City of Toronto.

At the outset, in June of 1997, the company published its first weekly newsletter, entitled Novae Res Urbis (pronounced nov-eye rays er-bis, a term roughly translated from Latin as “News of the City”). The newsletter was conceived and based on a belief that with amalgamation would come, not only change, but confusion—the newsletter was to provide up-to-date information on the evolving new city structure and its regular activities, including planning and development matters. What was not conceived at the time was that with amalgamation of the City of Toronto, the need for Novae Res Urbis to fill an information void on the complex system of Toronto City Hall would grow even larger with time.

In addition to the City of Toronto Edition, there is also a weekly newsletter covering urban planning and municipal issues for the Greater Toronto Area.

NRU Publishing Inc., a privately owned Toronto-based publishing company established in 1997, is seeking to hire a Municipal Affairs & Planning Journalist.
The Municipal Affairs & Planning Journalist is responsible for identifying, researching and writing stories for NRU’s two publications, Novae Res Urbis – Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (NRU GTHA) and Novae Res Urbis – City of Toronto (NRU Toronto). We publish NRU GTHA and NRU Toronto once each week, 50 weeks per year, producing a total of 100 issues per year.
Each publication is distributed to subscribers weekly by email. To learn more about NRU, please visit https://www.nrupublishing.com/about-nru/.
To view sample editions of NRU’s two publications, please visit
GTHA Edition: https://www.nrupublishing.com/nru-greater-toronto/
Toronto Edition: https://www.nrupublishing.com/nru-toronto/
POSITION OVERVIEW
This is currently a remote position, however, given the local focus of our reporting, the preference is for the incumbent to be based in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area or the city of Toronto.
The NRU team has been working 100% remotely since the beginning of COVID-19, leveraging digital tools and systems to meet and collaborate over video. We may consider re-establishing a site office in the future. The NRU team works closely and cooperatively on each project.
The Municipal Affairs & Planning Journalist position requires a basic knowledge of and passion for thinking about city issues – with a strong knowledge of urban planning and related matters. These qualities will inform your ability to research and write accurate, timely and concise articles on local municipal affairs and planning news, and to undertake and deliver these stories within established weekly timelines in consultation with the Editor. The Municipal Affairs & Planning Journalist will be responsible for developing and covering news items that includes identifying, researching, analyzing, and interviewing expert informants for the two publications and writing municipal-related news articles based on that work.
Background experience in urban planning or related fields is preferred. Ability to organize and write well is required.
The position reports to the Publisher or the Editor, depending on the nature of the assignment.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Your areas of responsibility for newsgathering for our two publications will include:
• Proposing, every week, story suggestions and ideas in collaboration with the Editor to establish the nature of reporting assignments each week.
• Organizing and devoting a portion of your week to researching, interviewing informants for and writing articles for the publications, on copy deadlines established by the Editor.
• Writing a minimum of 2 feature articles and two inside articles for NRU Toronto and NRU GTHA (700 to 950-word articles) each week, for a total of 4 articles per week that will meet two weekly deadlines for publication.
• Using multiple sources, documents, images, data reporting, and other journalistic tools to develop, report, and write feature and special articles, and to undertake investigative projects.
• Positively represent the Company in all interactions and interviews relating to the position.
• Identifying images to accompany articles, preparing cut lines, identifying image sources, and describing what an image shows and its relationship to a story.
• Compiling documentation to facilitate fact-checking of all articles authored.
• Preparing special articles from time to time on election coverage, writing in-depth features, year-in-review summaries, and other articles, as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS and KEY ATTRIBUTES
Our ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications and key attributes:
• 2 – 5 years of writing and reporting experience at a small publishing company is preferred
• A degree in Journalism or Urban Planning or equivalent experience or background is required.
• Strong research and interviewing skills, ability to search public records and use data-based reporting methodologies.
• Adaptable to an environment where news and information are updated frequently, and the work atmosphere demands urgency
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to juggle strict deadlines and priorities.
• Excellent writing skills, communication skills, and strong collaborative and team-building skills.
• Ability to translate often complex topics into accurate, clear, and concise language that our professionally trained subscribers can understand.
• Passionate and interested in city-building initiatives in Toronto and municipalities in the Greater Toronto/Hamilton Area.
• Excitement about the ongoing development of cities and curiosity around the constraints that cities face in building a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable future for their residents and visitors.
• Good news judgment and ability to think creatively about the urban planning and municipal affairs news agenda in Toronto and the GTHA.
• Strong personal drive with the ability to work both independently and within a team.
• Willingness to learn and comply with the style protocols of the NRU Style Guide.
• Strong curiosity around the problem-solving abilities of the many professionals who work collaboratively to shape cities for the future, including public sector and private sector urban planners, architects, landscape architects, developers, public servants from federal, provincial and municipal agencies, municipal lawyers, municipal engineers, transportation engineers, environmental specialists, and members of the public who represent various community organizations and interest groups.

NRU provides health benefits equivalent to $2,000 per year. The incumbent is entitled to three paid vacation weeks per year; two of those weeks occurring during holiday closures of the company (at Christmas in December and in summer, during the first week of August), one vacation week to be taken at the discretion of the incumbent.

Annual Salary

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.