Deputy News Director, Audio
WAMU 88.5
Washington
,
DC
Application Deadline: Friday, Apr 15, 2022
Description
WAMU 88.5 is the leading public radio station in the greater Washington, D.C. area, and DCist is our digital outlet for local news. We provide accountability and enterprise reporting alongside essential news, information, and service journalism with the goals of reflecting and serving the diverse communities of our region.
The Deputy News Director, Audio is responsible for carrying out WAMU’s regional news and content strategy with a focus on our audio presence across all platforms. This individual is a Content Department leader responsible for setting standards for excellent journalism in our daily regional news output as well as a creative vision and strategy for our audio feature storytelling and aesthetic. The Deputy News Director, Audio works with Deputy News Director, Web, the News Director and other newsroom managers to ensure that WAMU’s regional news resources are deployed for the greatest possible impact and audience engagement.
The Deputy News Director, Audio directly supervises editors, who in turn oversee the work of reporters and producers, ensuring that WAMU has diverse, representative, thoughtful and insightful coverage in both our daily and breaking news reporting as well as long-form stories across our signature beats. They develop, implement and delegate reporting and editing processes and innovate new approaches to our audio storytelling. They champion enterprise audio reporting on diverse communities and prioritize elevating under-represented voices in our coverage.
The Deputy News Director, Audio identifies stories/topics that lend themselves to more focused, project-level approaches and explanatory audio storytelling. They are empowered to experiment and innovate new approaches to our audio storytelling and to how WAMU “sounds and feels” on-air, pioneering a fresh and unconventional sound for public radio in one of the country’s most prominent broadcast markets. They are a trusted leader within the Content Department and will help brainstorm and develop new audio products across all of our platforms as new opportunities arise.
The Deputy News Director, Audio is a leader, coach, and innovator—always pushing to delight and surprise listeners while challenging conventional approaches to audio journalism in public media. Precise and excellent news judgment is a must, but so is a commitment to the staff. The Deputy News Director, Audio must be an empathetic, inclusive and unflinching manager of people, devoted to articulating high journalistic expectations and supporting other editors and newsroom leaders to help reach those standards.
What you’ll do:
- Develops and implements the editorial, production and acoustic vision and strategy for WAMU’s local audio journalism across all platforms.
- Serves as primary newsroom contact regarding decisions about our audio journalism and related planning, resourcing and execution.
- Serves as a newsroom leader – suggesting ambitious stories/projects for both individual reporters and the team at large and helping execute them.
- Works with the with Deputy News Director, Web, the News Director, Senior Producer; Editors and other newsroom leaders to enforce WAMU’s regional news agenda and editorial goals on a daily basis, with ultimate oversight of newscasts, on demand audio, The Politics Hour, and Consider This.
- Sets productivity, quality, and workflow standards for daily broadcast and other audio content – and innovates when necessary to improve operations.
- Hands-on editing of a variety of audio stories, from breaking news and special coverage to features and long-form projects.
- Edits audio and digital content for accuracy, quality, relevance, style and adherence to WAMU’s regional news strategy.
- Supervises, coaches and mentors newsroom editors in carrying out vision for both daily and enterprise audio strategy.
And much more…
You’re experience and attributes:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.
- 4-6 years of relevant experience required.
- 5+ years of leading and managing an editorial team, preferably with a focus on multi-platform storytelling and distribution
- 7+ years of hands-on experience shaping audio/broadcast stories, with a proven ability to increase the caliber of work offered by journalists with a wide range of levels of experience
- 7+ years of experience producing content in a fast-paced deadline-driven broadcast environment
- Demonstrated experience in leading ambitious and distinctive coverage; the ability to think and make decisions based on a larger news strategy.
- Impeccable news judgment and editing/producing experience across a range of reporting and storytelling genres; the ability to make good decisions quickly.
- Experience maintaining high journalistic standards under deadline pressure, including standards of transparency, balance and fairness.
- An understanding of audience behavior and current/emerging content platforms; experience building audiences, leading the integration of content, including local, national and international news, across platforms
- Experience leading journalists with varying experience and platform backgrounds; experience in team building and leading collaborative work processes.
- Understanding of the FOIA and public records, and an appreciation for the practice of data-focused journalism
- An understanding of the values, sound and sensibility of public radio and enthusiasm for the station, the region, and the value of localism.
- Demonstrated creativity and an appetite for experimentation and risk-taking in storytelling.
- A strong track record of applying insights from analytics and benchmarks to content decisions.
- A passion for and understanding of strategies for building a loyal audience, and a willingness to deploy those tactics with a spirit of experimentation and continuous improvement in serving and engaging with new and diverse audiences.
- Proven ability to consistently work well with diverse personalities; positive approach to embracing change.
- Experience managing resources in an integrated digital/broadcast newsroom.
- Experience working in and/or knowledge of public radio and the public radio system.
- Adept at communicating effectively across all levels of leadership while inspiring confidence.
- Ability to respect input but ultimately be confident enough to take decisive action and take responsibility for said action
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- A strong commitment to building and championing a workplace culture rooted in respect, diversity, equity and inclusion at every turn.