NPR is looking for two supervising senior editors with news instincts, narrative audio chops and leadership experience.
DUTIES:
- Manage some (4 or 5) of the talented, experienced reporters and producers
- Hiring, as needed, the next round of world class audio storytellers
- Edit episodes, quickly, decisively, with insight, rigor and kindness
- Be ambitious, thinking up large-scale projects for the team to tackle collaboratively
- Ensure every episode meets NPR’s high standards for craft, journalism, and tone and substance
- Keep the show from sounding boring, predictable, generic
- Have tons of ideas
- Know how to pluck news from unexpected sources, or from business or trade press, or the 13th paragraph of a magazine article and turn it into a narrative the general public cannot help but listen to
- Approving or rejecting story pitches from staff and freelancers, along with other editorial staff, and provide clear reasons for your choices
- Offer feedback at the macro and micro levels: on story conception and framing as well as fine tuning scripts
- Re-writing stories along with hosts, including restructuring arcs, sharpening narration, punching up jokes, trimming episodes to time and whatever else is needed
- Thinking ahead with reporters about getting that dream tape with just the right question, or by being in just the right place
- Participating in the collaborative group edit process
- Offering direct, critical feedback with kindness, consideration, collegiality
- Embody the team values of kindness, consideration, empathy, inclusivity, diversity, and equity
- Thinking big. Really big. Pushing the ambition of the team on all fronts is key, innovating in craft, format, journalism, narrative, insight, all of it
SKILLS:
- Experience leading a team of journalists, having tough conversations with empathy and kindness, aiding in the professional development of junior staff, motivating a team, maintaining high morale, infusing the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and creativity into every aspect of the editorial process
- Narrative audio journalism experience
- 7+ years’ experience explaining complicated topics to audiences, as a journalist, writer, teacher or other setting
- 7+ years’ experience in a deadline news environment
- 5+ years’ experience editing the work of others
- Demonstrated experience innovating in storytelling with examples you can point to
For details, go here.
