Monday, June 13, 2011

Online Journalism Job Analysis


Company:Patch.com
Position:
Local Editor, Encinitas (San Diego) Patch
Location:
Encinitas (San Diego), California
Job Status: Not Specified
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires: 
July 12, 2011
Job ID:1260053

Description:Are you a passionate and entrepreneurial online journalist? Want to be part of a dynamic and innovative team of journalists, engineers, designers and business pros who are creating a bold new solution for our industry? Do you think that traditional news media just don't get it anymore?  Would you like to run your own local news Web site, where you'll tap the multimedia and social media skills you've mastered to transform community journalism and connect with communities? If you answered 'yes' to any of those questions, keep reading
We're Patch.com, a start-up that's radically reinventing community journalism. We launched in February 2009 and we now operate hundreds of local news sites in towns with populations under 70,000, and we continue to expand! Patch is founded on two core principles: that news matters in towns across the country and that we can create a successful business model to sustain it. Even as many newsrooms have been downsized or shut down, Patch is investing millions to create a nationwide network of news sites using our dynamic platform to produce meaningful daily and enterprise journalism and pioneer new forms of storytelling to serve communities. We have won acclaim in the industry and coverage in The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR's "Talk of the Nation," "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," and numerous industry blogs and Web sites. We've recently also announced Patch.org, a new initiative that will allow us to collaborate with local foundations and journalism schools to cover under-served communities.


Patch.com is looking for smart, innovative journalists to join our team as full-time site editors. We see this as nothing less than the future of online journalism. Visit patch.com to learn more about our mission and to visit our news sites.

Job responsibilities (to include, but not limited to):
    *    Run a local news site - reporting, writing, taking pictures and video; finding, assigning and editing freelancers and local columnists, and connecting with the community to attract user-generated content
    *    Provide an invaluable source of trusted news and information that will improve people's lives
    *    Drive your site to become a landmark in the community
    *    Work collaboratively with colleagues in a region to produce impactful breaking news, features and enterprise journalism and storytelling, and create new ways to connect with  and engage communities
    *    Collaborate with the business team to build and maintain your town's directory of key officials,  organizations and business listings

Required skills:
    *    Recent community journalism experience
    *    Ability to manage, direct, and motivate a team of freelancers
    *    Ability to manage a budget
    *    'Bull-doggish' reporting instincts and willingness to ask tough questions of important people
    *    Experience in online journalism
    *    Experience editing video, producing a Web site and/or excellent photography skills
    *    Must have a firm grasp of AP style
    *    Great news judgment
    *    Adept with a variety of social media tools
    *    Unparalleled organizational, time management, and interpersonal skills

Desired skills:
    *    Passionate about the web, social networking, and of course community journalism
    *    Be able to quickly grasp the interests, rhythms and identity of a community
    *    Thrive in a fast-paced environment
    *    Entrepreneurial spirit and drive; start up experience a plus


Bold Qualifications are things I feel fit with my skills and apply to what we have discussed in this class.
I feel that some of these qualifications that are not bold would be quite easy to get a handle on. 
I never thought of myself as being at all capable of acquiring a job in journalism, but now I see that if I were ever compelled to work professionally as a new media, online, or other sort of journalist, I wouldn't have that much trouble landing a job. 

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