Working Title: Lee Ester News Fellow
Official Title: Research Intern, Employee-in-Training (100% appointment, 9 months)
Availability: Application review begins after April 26, at 5:00 PM
BACKGROUND
The Lee Ester News Fellowship is designed for a recent graduate or someone in the early years of his or her career as a radio news reporter. The successful candidate will work as a full-time reporter in Wisconsin Public Radio’s Madison newsroom for nine months, beginning in August or September. Wisconsin Public Radio consists of 2 state-wide networks of 37 stations.
The Lee Ester Fellow will receive close supervision and coaching as a reporter, in areas that include story selection, interviewing, sound editing, writing, and developing in-depth stories. As the successful candidate will be someone who already has some level of experience as an intern or part-time reporter, this will be a higher-level of instruction and feedback, with a higher level of work product expected.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Lee Ester News Fellow is considered a developmental reporter at WPR. He or she will be a general-assignment reporter responsible for producing newscast-length stories and, occasionally, feature-length material. Regular and concentrated coaching on writing, editing, voicing and other aspects of radio news reporting is an important developmental element of this fellowship. The news fellow will also contribute to WPR’s online news efforts, such as posting photos or raw audio to our Web site, helping to create special pages for future reporting projects, etc.
SPECIFIC DUTIES:
- Prepare news reports for statewide use. At times, the Fellow may also discuss his or her latest story on one of WPR’s talk programs.
- Contribute on a daily basis to our website, WPR.org, and other digital projects and collaborate with our digital content team on both long-term and short-term multimedia projects.
- Keep up on current issues, events, and newsmakers, in Wisconsin.
- Participate in on-air fundraising and public appearances/promotional events as requested. Participate in news division, and statewide meetings.
- Operate control board and field reporting equipment.
- Maintain the standards of journalistic ethics and excellence described in Ethical Guidelines for Editorial Staff: http://bami.uwex.edu/broadcasting-and-media-innovations-ethical-guidelines.
- Effectively engage diverse perspectives and experiences in work product and in organizational interactions, and demonstrate respect in all workplace relationships and interactions.
- Other duties as apparent or assigned.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Produce stories for WPR newscasts and news programs using WPR equipment and in accordance with WPR policies and standards.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Previous broadcast news internship or professional experience
- Demonstrated ability to generate news story ideas
- Some experience producing or re-purposing news material for the web.
- Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
- Demonstrated ability to operate radio production equipment including control board, ISDN telephone system, and Audio Vault (or similar) production system.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
- Previous public radio experience
COMPENSATION: Salary for the Lee Ester News Fellow will be $2,916 per month for the 9-month fellowship. The Lee Ester News Fellow will also receive health and dental benefits during the term of the fellowship.
HOW TO APPLY: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled; however, for best consideration, please apply through www.careers.wisconsin.edu by 4/26/19. If you are a current UW System employee use http://bit.ly/2n9AibS. This is job # _____. Applications must include a detailed resume; a 1-2 page letter explaining how you meet the qualifications and why this fellowship meets your career development needs; a list of four professional references with contact information including. In addition, submit work samples as described below
- A sound sample of a news report. You may provide a link (preferred) or an mp3 file. If you don’t have samples from previous work, you may create a report specifically for this application.
- Two to three samples of radio news scripts you have prepared. If you don’t have examples from previous work, you may create scripts specifically for this application.
Questions? Contact Betsy Nelson, Wisconsin Public Radio, 821 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, 608-262-5221; betsy.nelson@wpr.org.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Employment will require a criminal background check. It will also require you and your references to answer questions regarding sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Employment is contingent on establishment of identity and verification of employment eligibility as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
It is the policy of University of Wisconsin to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment. If you require an accommodation to participate in any part of the hiring process, please contact person listed above.
As a unit within the University of Wisconsin, WPR is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer and no qualified applicant will be eliminated from consideration. WPR is committed to achieving a diverse workforce and to maintaining an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion. We want our staff and programming to reflect the rich culture and diversity of our state and actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.