The Requirements
To be a good fit for this opportunity you will have:- Professional photography and videography experience and demonstrated skills with tools for digital journalism.
- The ability to shoot in diverse contexts, including news, sports and entertainment.
- Solid writing skills and the ability to complement your images with interesting captions and short copy.
- Experience in posting to the web and meta-data tagging.
- Strong web, video, and multimedia authoring skills and familiarity with emerging technologies.
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop, and audio and video editing software.
- Experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience.
- Demonstrated reporting, writing and organizational skills.
- An understanding of the methods and tools used to deliver content across a variety of platforms such as Moveable Type CMS, SCC Budgeting and Archiving System, and smartphones.
- An understanding of the imperatives of multiple platforms -- print, mobile, Internet, etc.
- Mastery of social media and digital interaction.
- A deep background and understanding of the local culture is preferred.
- A bachelor's degree in Visual Communication, Journalism, Graphic Design, Multimedia Design, Art Graphic Design, Web Design, or a related field. We also will consider non-degreed candidates with significant relevant experience.
- High energy and motivation.
- The ability to work independently under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately.
- Excellent interpersonal, organizational and communication skills.
- Strong journalistic and work ethics.
- A teamwork orientation including the ability to work with reporters and other photographers, providing team coverage of major news, sports or other events.
- The drive to stay abreast of industry advances and proactively consider new methods of reaching audiences including engaging, interactive and optimized product offerings.
This is a part-time role and you'll need to be available at various times, including nights and weekends. Some overnight travel within the state may be required.
The Role
Regardless of medium or topic, your output should also be visually compelling and meet professional standards for composition, focus, lighting and other technical standards. At the same time, you'll be posting frequently and in real time, shooting, editing and posting while mobile, so you'll need to work quickly while maintaining these high standards. In addition you will provide captions and other copy, writing with clarity and accuracy to help engage your audience. You'll interact with readers via social media and make your mark shooting across topics that touch all areas of our coverage.
Your activities will include:
- Performing fundamental editing functions to facilitate production demands, including cropping, toning, color-correcting, etc.
- Working seamlessly across all topics and, when necessary, all departments in the news organization.
- Working independently and remotely, while maintaining operational communication with the editor and, when applicable, the production center.
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Using hardware, software and cloud-based equipment and systems for direct-to-web production and engagement, including but not limited to:
- Uploading photographs, photo galleries and short video to any internal production system.
- Posting photographs, photo galleries and short video directly to the web.
- Using a laptop and smart phone for remote web reporting.
- Interacting on social media platforms, promoting your topic and the news organization's content initiatives.
- Understanding our news organization's audience traffic tracking systems and analytical reports.
- Receiving assignments, managing your time, and hitting all deadlines.
- Proactively generating your own story ideas.
Keys to Success
To excel in this role, you will be a driven, dynamic photographer and videographer with the ability to deliver a high volume of work daily, keeping the quality consistent and engaging. We're looking for a professional who excels and thrives under pressure and can deliver to deadline without sacrificing quality. Because we are an online daily operation, you will also need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. You'll receive assignments from others, but you also should generate your own ideas. Because you are posting directly to the website, you will need to ensure the quality of your work before you post.Additionally, to be an outstanding professional, you'll establish relationships throughout the department and with the reporters with whom you'll work, and external contacts will be as important as internal. You should be self-directed and self-disciplined, and eager to hit the ground running whether working independently or with a team. You'll need to learn and stay up-to-date with the city, key players, current events, entertainment venues, etc., and be as comfortable co-covering a football game as you are covering a city council meeting.
