The Senior Editor is a professional journalist who ensures adherence to journalistic guidelines and practices and the department's performance using these principles as guidelines. 

The primary duty of the Senior Editor is to edit daily and feature stories for balance, clarity, accuracy, and adherence to Associated Press style rules. 

As one of WFIU/WTIU's editors, you'll mentor a diverse team of talented reporters as they develop their beats and master the finer skills of radio, television, and digital journalism. We're interested in someone who can be a coach and advocate for our reporters - and a key decision maker among newsroom leadership. This position is a key liaison between the news bureau chief and the daily newsroom workflow. This position meets with the news bureau chief weekly to report on processes that are working or not working in the newsroom.

You can learn more about us at https://www.indianapublicmedia.org/ 

Department-Specific Responsibilities

• Edits stories for daily broadcast and publication online.

• Ensures stories are accurate, written conversationally, balanced, and fair.

• Ensures meaningful content is delivered to the audience by coordinating with journalists and senior staff.

• Works with other journalists to make sure stories are timely and completed on deadline.

• Communicates expectations to journalists and ensures all content meets the highest journalistic standards. 

• Responsible for the daily flow of news.

• Recognizes when something is 'news', assign that to a journalist or do it him/herself if no one else is available.

• Runs the daily story pitch meeting and makes reporter assignments.

• Trains, supervises, and evaluates WFIU/WTIU, journalist. This position has specific oversight over the multi-media journalists in the newsroom who are producing spot news and feature stories.

• Instructs in the use of audio, video and Internet material, proper public broadcasting journalistic practices, reporting, production, and sometimes on-air presentation.

• Edits daily stories for accuracy, clarity and context.

• Works with reporters to develop enterprising story ideas that go beyond the day's news.

• Regularly work with the Senior News Producer to ensure stories match with the needs of various WFIU/WTIU News programs.

• Responsible for editing complex stories that contain multiple viewpoints.

• Serves as a newsroom leader, including participating in key coverage decisions, workflow strategies and long-term planning.

• Serves as a station ambassador, participating in community engagement events and striving to build relationships with underserved communities.

• Fosters a positive workplace culture.

General Responsibilities

• Creates stories for multiple media platforms, including radio, television, podcast, and online productions, that meet production standards and deadlines.

• Independently seeks out news focuses, researches information, interprets conflicting data, pitches ideas, writes in-depth articles, and prepares related program materials and segments for broadcast; research may involve time spent in the field conducting interviews.

• Ensures all materials produced are engaging and meet professional journalistic standards and practices, including standards for accuracy, ethics, fairness, objectivity, and balance.

• Serves as a consultant to Indiana Public Broadcasting stations and coordinates with stations to provide contributions to national and regional networks; manages partnerships with news organizations to ensure news coverage is representative of all parts of Indiana.

• May manage social media content and activity.

• May provide guidance to lower-level Multimedia Journalists. 

Combinations of related education and experience may be considered. Education beyond the minimum required may be substituted for work experience. Work experience beyond the minimum required may be substituted for education. 

EDUCATION

Required

• Bachelor's degree in broadcast media, journalism, liberal arts, or related field

WORK EXPERIENCE

Required

• 2 years in related field

Preferred

• 5 years of public broadcasting or journalism-related endeavor

• 1 year of editing experience  

SKILLS

Required

• Proficient communication skills

• Maintains a high degree of professionalism

• Demonstrates time management and priority setting skills

• Demonstrates a high commitment to quality

• Possesses flexibility to work in a fast paced, dynamic environment

• Seeks to acquire knowledge in area of specialty

• Highly thorough and dependable

• Demonstrates a high level of accuracy, even under pressure

WORKING CONDITIONS/DEMANDS

This role requires the ability to effectively communicate and to operate a computer and other standard office productivity equipment. The position involves sedentary work as well as periods of time moving around an office environment and the campus. This role requires a valid driver's license and the ability to carry/handle up to 30 pounds of audio/video equipment. The person in this role must be able to perform the essential functions with or without an accommodation.

WORK HOURS

Ability to work occasional nights, weekends, holidays, and special events; hours of work vary according to need.