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News & Public Affairs Director
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Position Number: 5090754
Location: Syracuse, NY
Position Type: Communications - Journalism

News & Public Affairs Director

Job #: 039835
Location Syracuse, NY
Pay Range: $64,000 - $85,000
Hours: Standard University business hours

8:30am - 5:00pm (academic year)
8:00am - 4:30pm (summer)

Hours may vary based on operational needs.
Job Type: Full-time

Job Description:
WAER and Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communication seek a dynamic newsroom leader who can help move our dual missions forward, enlightening, entertaining and engaging the public, and providing professional development opportunities for student/volunteers. WAER's next News Director will continue the department's evolution into a broadcast and digital entity.

The News Director will join sound journalism with technical broadcasting skills, digital storytelling, comprehensive knowledge of content management systems for web posting, and social media experience. This individual will lead, set policy and produce content in each of these areas. This includes editing content on all platforms and participating in special public affairs, community-engagement programming.

The News Director also plays a key role in WAER's training and development mission, including teaching writing, interviewing, digital and audio skills, and other areas to aid student development. Recruiting of volunteers is also an important task.

The WAER News Director is also a member of the station's management team and helps set station direction, participates in fundraising, station promotion, and community and university relations. Knowledge of Public Media and related issues is helpful.

Qualifications:

Bachelors degree in relevant field required (broadcast & digital journalism, journalism, media, etc.); Masters Degree preferred.
Minimum 5-7 years of newsroom experience with progressive degree of responsibility.
Supervisory experience required.
Digital journalism experience required.
Website content management system experience required.
Broadcast studio and field equipment experience necessary.
Public broadcasting and fundraising experience helpful.
Teaching, training, public speaking, facilitation experience helpful.

Job Specific Qualifications:

Newsroom supervision or management experience with progressively growing responsibilities.
Extensive background in story generation and story development, with investigative reporting experience helpful.
Knowledge of public radio news philosophy and style.
Technical knowledge of broadcast studios, broadcast audio equipment, digital audio editing.
Proficiency with social media platforms, digital content creation and distribution.
Experience/proficiency with website content management systems.
Experience hosting public radio newsmagazine programs helpful.
Podcast development/production experience helpful.
Experience in teaching and training of young digital and broadcast journalists, including college students and other volunteers helpful.

Responsibilities:
Content Production
The News Director produces daily news content, feature news reporting, and special event coverage; contributes to scheduled public affairs and community engagement programs with interviews, stories and segments; develops story and program ideas, and serves as host/anchor when needed for news magazines; edits and writes digital content for website and social media platforms; contributes to podcast development and production.

Supervision
The News Director supervises, assigns, and directs professional staff of reporters and producers, as well as extensive student volunteer staff. The person also trains, directs, and provides periodic assessment of professional staff in the department. A key component of supervision is balancing resources for the various newsroom needs: daily local news coverage, beat and feature reporting, public affairs programs, and special news coverage, for both broadcast and digital audiences.

Student Services
Helps recruit, schedule, train, supervise and assign student volunteers; Guides professional development opportunities for students; Edits daily and feature digital and broadcast content; Manages and develops systems to improve student professional development and to increase retention; Helps recruit a diverse group of student volunteers, creating a culture that is welcoming to all ethnicities, majors, gender expressions or preferences, abilities, experience levels; Fosters collaborations with Newhouse School and to highlight student work on WAERs platforms.

Management
The News Director sets editorial standards and direction, consistent with station goals and market conditions; helps, as part of the management team, to create the vision for improving existing products and innovating new, creative digital and broadcast initiatives; assists in fundraising as needed; seeks out community collaboration for news reporting and public affairs projects.

About Syracuse University:
Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings, and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and over 150 years of history, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience.

The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs offered across the Universitys 13 schools and colleges; over 15,000 undergraduates and over 6,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.syracuse.edu.

About the Syracuse area:
Syracuse is a medium-sized city situated in the geographic center of New York State approximately 250 miles northwest of New York City. The metro-area population totals approximately 500,000. The area offers a low cost of living and provides many social, cultural, and recreational options, including parks, museums, festivals, professional regional theater, and premier shopping venues. Syracuse and Central New York present a wide range of seasonal recreation and attractions ranging from water skiing and snow skiing, hiking in the Adirondacks, touring the historic sites, visiting wineries along the Finger Lakes, and biking on trails along the Erie Canal.

Application Deadline:
Full Consideration By:
Open Until Filled:

To apply, visit https://www.sujobopps.com/postings/102454

Syracuse University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution. The University prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, national origin, citizenship, ethnicity, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law to the extent prohibited by law. This nondiscrimination policy covers admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs, services, and activities.

Syracuse University has a long history of engaging veterans and the military-connected community through its educational programs, community outreach, and employment programs. After World War II, Syracuse University welcomed more than 10,000 returning veterans to our campus, and those veterans literally transformed Syracuse University into the national research institution it is today. The Universitys contemporary commitment to veterans builds on this historical legacy, and extends to both class-leading initiatives focused on making an SU degree accessible and affordable to the post-9/11 generation of veterans, and also programs designed to position Syracuse University as the employer of choice for military veterans, members of the Guard and Reserve, and military family members.

Syracuse University maintains an inclusive learning environment in which students, faculty, administrators, staff, curriculum, social activities, governance, and all other aspects of campus life reflect a diverse, multi-cultural, and international worldview. The University community recognizes and values the many similarities and differences among individuals and groups. At Syracuse, we are committed to preparing students to understand, live among, appreciate, and work in an inherently diverse country and world made up of people with different ethnic and racial backgrounds, military backgrounds, religious beliefs, socio-economic status, cultural traditions, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. To do so, we commit ourselves to promoting a community that celebrates and models the principles of diversity and inclusivity.