LEE ESTER NEWS FELLOW
JOB SUMMARY
WPR’s news department seeks to empower Wisconsin’s communities through rigorous reporting that provides context, holds public officials accountable, and sheds clarifying light on complex topics. The Lee Ester News Fellow is considered a developmental reporter at WPR. They will be a general-assignment reporter responsible for producing daily news stories and, occasionally, feature-length material for radio and the web. Regular and concentrated coaching on writing, editing, voicing and other aspects of radio news reporting is an important developmental element of this fellowship. This position is based in Madison and reports to the Daily News Editor. This position will operate remotely at present but will eventually be expected to report to the office.
EDUCATION
Bachelor's degree preferred
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
-Previous broadcast news internship or at least 1 year of relevant professional experience
-Demonstrated ability to generate news story ideas
-Some experience producing news stories for the web.
-Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
-Demonstrated ability to operate radio production equipment.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
-Previous public radio experience
RESPONSIBILITIES
Researches, prepares, and reports stories that are balanced, issue-oriented, and analytical for use in news and/or public affairs programs. Employs editorial judgement to select sources, conducts and records interviews, writes scripts, and may edit audio and/or video during the production of reporting assignments.
- 60% Contributes content including interviewing sources, writing stories/reports, and completing other necessary production tasks to create news/public affairs reports
- 10% Applies editorial judgment and maintains industry standards of journalistic ethics and excellence
- 10% Stays abreast of developments in assigned areas, maintains contacts on continued stories to ensure follow-up, and researches topic areas to provide in-depth reports
- 20% Collaborates with digital content teams on both long-term and short-term multimedia projects
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Salary for the Lee Ester News Fellow will be $46,000 annually and will also receive health and dental benefits during the term of the fellowship. The fellowship is a 12 month position.
The person in this position will be required to comply with the WPR Ethical Guidelines for Editorial Staff located here: https://www.wpr.org/wpr-ethical-guidelines, in addition to the UW-Madison code of ethics.
The University of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We promote excellence through diversity and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply online at https://jobs.hr.wisc.edu by April 29th, 2022. The job number is 255629.
The following must be received for your application to be complete: 1) Resume; 2) A cover letter describing how your experience relates to the job duties and minimum and desirable qualifications 3) A sound sample of a news report. You may provide a link (preferred) or a mp3 file. If you don’t have samples from previous work, you may create a report specifically for this application. 4) Two to three samples of broadcast news scripts and online news stories you have prepared. 5) At least three professional references with titles, emails, and phone numbers (include at least one supervisory reference).
Questions? Contact: Kate O’Connor, Wisconsin Public Radio, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706;
608-262-5221