ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, THE TAKEAWAY (Part-Time; 30/hrs) for WNYC & WQXR

Posted On: September 15, 2010

Journalism Internship

Media Organization:

Company Description

Co-producers WNYC and PRI - in collaboration with the BBC World Service, The New York Times, and WGBH Boston television and radio—are reinvigorating morning drive. The Takeaway is a multi-platform morning drive news program that is creating a new model for news reporting in public broadcasting. The show is rooted in the values public radio is best known for—highly credible journalism, depth and context—but breaks out from the medium's conventionally packaged sound by delivering national and international news and cultural stories through a conversational and unprecedented personality-driven format. The Takeaway features live conversation, reporters in locations around the world, a cast of regular contributors, audience interaction, a website and distributed content, including video.

The Takeaway began airing on public radio stations across America in April 2008, with the mission to host and reflect the American conversation - bringing together diverse perspectives and voices through the connection of local, national and international news. During this time, the show has expanded from two to four hours live on-air to provide live content for other time zones. The enterprise builds on public radio's morning success with content and strategies that will bring new audiences to public radio and public service media online.

Job Description

The Associate Producer will be responsible for writing 8 of the show's daily 16 live newscasts. The newscasts are usually between 90 seconds and 2 minutes in length and they are spread out- around one every 15 minutes-across the 4 hours we are live on air each morning. The job requires strong news-writing, in a live newsroom situation, experience. The successful candidate will have several years experience writing newscasts in a busy newsroom environment. The hire will be trained in The Takeaway's news hub and become a part of a small team. The hours are 4:00am to 10:00am daily (weekdays only). The job also includes pulling tape (audio) from various sources to include in the newscasts. We will show you how to do this as part of your training.

All members of the morning show team are expected to be self-starters and to keep up with a wide variety of news sources; be able to think and act quickly; and thrive in a collaborative, deadline-driven work environment.

Job responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Writing strong news content quickly and efficiently for newscasts against the clock
• Monitoring and staying aware across latest news sources including AP and the show's two main editorial partners, The New York Times & BBC, and all other relevant sources
• Content needs to be of top journalistic standards: accuracy, fairness and balance
• Responsible for pulling tape (audio) for newscasts. That audio will come from a variety of sources
• Working with staff maintaining quality assurance of all morning newscasts
• Collaborate with morning show team to ensure and develop style and voice of show
• Comply with all WNYC/WQXR show policies and guidelines
• This position requires use of a computer, telephone and other office and/or broadcast equipment; ability to communicate effectively through a variety of methods
• Ability to work extended hours as needed
• Work on special projects and other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Minimum of three years writing newscasts in a busy newsroom setting, working against the clock to meet tight deadlines
• Bachelor's Degree required; journalism experience strongly preferred
• Must have strong news judgment and commitment to journalistic ethics and standards
• Excellent critical thinking skills that demonstrate independent judgment and decision-making
• Must have excellent writing and copyediting skills and be able to produce well-written, publication-ready copy
• Ability to prioritize and handle several projects at once
• Ability to work collaboratively and serve multiple constituencies in a dynamic newsroom environment
• Excellent communication skills—both oral and written—with an impressive reputation for building and maintaining relationships with people at all levels of an organization, across a diverse range of cultural, generational, ethnic, racial, educational and social backgrounds
• Requires the intellectual and emotional depth, maturity, self-confidence and interpersonal skills to work effectively and/or interact with the other Takeaway staff, executives at WNYC, colleagues, vendors and guests as needed

To Apply

To apply for this opportunity, please submit a cover letter, salary requirements and resume online to jobs@wnyc.org with "P/T Assoc Prod, TT" and your last name in the subject line.

WNYC must receive all information requested in order to consider your ca