Within the local division of Gannett's USA TODAY NETWORK, the Center for Community Journalism is a nationwide leadership, editing and planning structure supporting small and midsized newsrooms. Its mission is to provide timely, factual and relevant information as a public service in local communities. The CCJ focuses on unique and distinctive reporting on high-interest local topics including food, drink and culture; growth and development; government accountability; people-centered "sense of place" stories; and high school and Division I college sports. CCJ newsrooms succeed by valuing quality over quantity, recognizing that premium content for subscribers will sustain local journalism for the long haul.
The Producer/Planner team in the CCJ plays a crucial role in ensuring high-impact local journalism reaches its maximum audience, helping to support community newspapers and grow and retain subscription bases for our publications. Producer/Planners are strategic partners and the architects of overall publication plans for our journalism to maximize audience and subscription growth. The Producer/Planner ensures that the right content is published and delivered to the right audience in the right way on the right platforms at the right time, both in advance planning and execution. Using analytics to create plans, adjust plans in real time and help advise on reporting holes or opportunities is key.
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This is a multi-newsroom, multi-platform role that empowers strategic work with other journalists to brainstorm and execute digital storytelling, such as photos, videos, graphics, sidebars and social cards; native platform management with Home page/app curation, newsletters and push alerts; search optimization; and social media platforms.
The Producer/Planner specializing in News is a strategic partner for local editors and reporters within the newsrooms they are assigned. Each Producer/Planner is assigned to multiple newsrooms, based on site size and geographic location.
The Producer/Planner-News will have or hone strong news judgment toward promoting stories on our native platforms, search, social and in print. Editors trust their Producer/Planner partner to make independent decisions about how and where content is presented.
The Producer/Planner-News is also an advocate for sharing their newsrooms' work with other sites in the USA TODAY Network - within the CCJ, with the metros and mid-metros and with USA TODAY. Likewise, the Producer/Planner-News is responsible for picking up supplemental coverage of interest to their community newsrooms from other sites to enhance reader experience.
The Planner/Producer-News works daily with the Planner/Producer-Sports to coordinate and execute story promotion via home fronts, push alerts, newsletters, social media and print.
The Planner/Producer-News is a remote job within the CCJ that can be located in all states except Alaska and Hawaii. It may require occasional early morning or late-night hours and weekend shifts to manage platforms and respond to breaking news.
Responsibilities:
- Partnering with editors on premium schedule and staying updated on best practices regarding subscriber-exclusive content.
- Maintaining digital and print content calendars via Presto Suite and determining embargo times to reach target audience. Keep a birds-eye view of content across the newsroom and Network.
- Managing native and off-site platforms: Scheduling and setting up Home front stories, push alerts and social media posts. Time of day for target audience is top of mind.
- Optimizing premium and high-potential content for search, recirculation and deeper audience engagement time.
- Enhancing content with video, galleries, SEO meta-data, hyperlinks and images.
- Writing effective digital headlines, promo briefs and breaking news alerts that help attract audiences.
- Spotting and correcting issues related to grammar, spelling, punctuation and style.
- Creating social cards via Canva for high-potential stories and scheduling them on social media platforms.
- Using Parse.ly and Google Analytics to make data-driven decisions and advise on opportunities targeting the audience funnel.
- Curating the Daily Briefing newsletter.
- Attending newsroom/team meetings and possibly running meetings.
- Helping newsrooms swarm breaking news and trending by suggesting (and sometimes writing) stories targeting search and social. This will include search optimization and formatting live blogs. It may include creating content and gathering user-generated content.
- Sharing content to other planners/sites and searching for content to promote on yours, including USA TODAY and sites in the regional structure.
- Enforcing workflow standards, including planning communication and deadlines.
- Maintaining a print schedule at least 5 days in advance.
- Posting daily print lineups for our Design Center partners and following operational standards for setting our design partners up for success. The Producer/Planner-News is the primary contact between design and the newsroom.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's or master's degree in communications, journalism, marketing, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- 3+ years' experience in a news or social media role.
- Proficiency in digital platforms, such as websites and apps, social media and search.
- Experience with content analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or Parse.ly is a plus.
- Experience in a deadline-driven environment.
- Strong communication skills and a willingness to collaborate is a must.
- Ability to work quickly and accurately under pressure and breaking news.
- Employment is contingent on passing a post-offer pre-employment background check.
We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. When you apply, don't limit your upload to a resume; show us what you've done. To do so, put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order:
1. Your resume - one to two pages.
2. A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job.
3. Links to 3-6 online samples of your work. Show us what you've produced or had a hand in that best reflects what you can do in your desired role.
It is important that these items be assembled into a single document and uploaded in PDF format. Completing these steps will ensure that your application receives the highest consideration.
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The hourly rate for this role will range between $16.44 and $38.70. Variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, location, and union representation, if applicable.