Posted On: January 4, 2022

Journalism Job

Media Organization: Gulf States Newsroom

Company Description

The Gulf States Newsroom is an exciting partnership between public radio stations in Alabama (WBHM), Louisiana (WWNO & WRKF), Mississippi (MPB-Mississippi Public Broadcasting) and NPR. We’re working together as a regional newsroom to plan coverage, share resources and add reporting power in a story-rich region where too many local news outlets have disappeared. It’s part of NPR’s collaborative journalism network, an initiative designed to better connect NPR with local member stations to represent what’s happening around the United States.

Job Description

Do you listen to audio stories and dream of having the power to make them better? Do you like analyzing data and searching public records to uncover issues people need to know more about? Do you have experience helping journalists grow into better storytellers? Are you a leader who wants to help reporters tell stories in new ways to reach new, diverse audiences?

Come join us as the senior content editor for the Gulf States Newsroom!

We’re hiring a senior editor to help us identify strong stories and bolster the work we create as we work to reshape the public media landscape in this vital region. You’ll be part of a growing team of reporters covering health care, criminal justice, wealth and poverty and race and equity across the three states.

How It Works: The editor will be an employee of WBHM in Birmingham (remote work possible) and will report to the managing editor of the Gulf States Newsroom (also based in Birmingham). This editor will work with regional beat reporters and station news teams to identify stories, sharpen audio storytelling and develop in-depth enterprise stories that have regional and often national relevance. This is a grant-funded position with funding through October 2023. The Gulf States Newsroom intends to raise funds to sustain the position beyond that period.

Responsibilities:

Work with the Gulf States Newsroom managing editor, digital editor and station news directors to assign, budget and edit stories
Supervise one or two reporters on the team
Edit feature stories and projects produced by Gulf States Newsroom reporters
Work with managing editor to develop and edit long-form projects
Fill in for Gulf States Newsroom managing editor as needed
Provide editing support to stations as needed
Ensure that all content complies with NPR’s editorial standards

Required Skills:

At least 5 years of journalism experience
A proven track record of reporting or editing original, enterprise stories
Excellent communication and organizational skills, public speaking ability and demonstrated writing ability
Ability to handle multiple complex projects simultaneously and to adapt to changing priorities/conditions
Experience incorporating audience and community engagement into the fabric of the story process

Preferred Skills:

Familiarity with audio storytelling and the public media system
Experience with podcasting and long-form storytelling
Experience with investigative reporting and data journalism
Experience reporting or editing in the South
Ability to speak a language besides English

To Apply

Fill out application here: https://uab.taleo.net/careersection/ext/jobdetail.ftl?job=T192129&tz=GMT-06%3A00&tzname=

Attach the following items:

A cover letter that explains why you are interested in this position and the Gulf States Newsroom and elaborates on why you are the right person for the role
Your resume
Two links to stories you reported or edited, along with a few sentences explaining the backstory of the piece and your role