By Eileen Briesch
For Displaced Journalists

Two years ago, I got the word: Your life is ending. The career for which you worked the past 30-plus years

Eileen Briesch

is over. It was a normal Friday night, and then it wasn’t. We were going to order pizza from my favorite pizza place, and I was going around asking who wanted in. Then my boss came in and said I needed to come with him. I felt my chest tighten, the throat constrict, the tears start to well up. I thought everyone was looking at me as I walked down the hall with my boss. Then Andy said, “It was nothing that you did.”

Then why was I losing my job, the only thing I’ve ever done in my life? Why was I losing my life?
Other people had husbands and families and kids. They had lives. I had nothing else but this career I had built. This was my life. And now it was gone. It was being pulled out from under me, like a rug, and I was falling down, tripping helplessly to the floor. I tried to stop the tears, but couldn’t. Why, why me, if I did nothing wrong? What was wrong with me?

It was like death, I realized. I left the office that night, went to commiserate with other coworkers who had been “killed” that night, who were losing their jobs. Then I was home by myself to cry, to contemplate my death, my new life after death.

Getting laid off is like a disease. The next day, I had to go back to work (it was part of the severance package; we had to work until our actual layoff date 60 days later). I felt like I had a disease, and everyone was afraid to get too close to me, afraid they’d catch the disease, too. The first two days were tough, because first, you cry. Then you want to fight back, you want revenge. And eventually, you say, “Ah, hell, the sun will come up and I’ll be stronger for this.”

And you know what? I am. There have been other layoffs at that company, and I feel like I’m going through it all over again, with every one of my former coworkers. I’m walking down that hall with them, feeling the tears well up again. I don’t know what the journey will be like for them. I know my journey has changed me so much. It has made me dig deep to dip into my reserves, some that I didn’t know were there.

I did land on my feet eventually. I got a new job. Maybe it’s not the world’s best one, but it’s a job and it pays the bills. Wherever life takes me now, I know this experience has changed me for the better. As my psychologist told me before I left Michigan for Louisiana, “You are an amazing woman.”

Yeah, I am.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Our client, a global factory certification and training organization focused on the consumer products industry, seeks a Communications Specialist for its Arlington, VA headquarters.  The incumbent will help develop and execute strategic programs involving a wide spectrum of communications, including press releases, blogs and other forms of social media.  The candidate will work closely with headquarters and field staff, must demonstrate excellent written and interpersonal communications skills, understand global markets, and be able to work independently and within a team environment on demanding issues.

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

B.A. or M.A. in Journalism, Communications or related field

Experience:

• At least 3 years of related experience in a for-profit or
• non-profit environment
• Experience in global trade, association trade shows, global
• markets, corporate social responsibility and multi-cultural environments a plus

Specific Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong written, interpersonal and organizational skills
• Experience in strategic planning, advocacy writing and media relations
• Knowledgeable of communications software, updating websites and graphic design
• Fluency in additional languages a significant plus
• Travel Required: 10%

If you’re interested in this job, contact: Jim Gentry, Gentry Executive Search, Greensboro, NC, jfgentry@bellsouth.net, 336-312-2555

Web Producer, Washington Week
WETA, Arlington, VA

Come be a part of WETA’s dynamic Washington Week team.  WETA,
Washington DC’s public broadcasting station has an exciting
opportunity as a Web Producer for its production, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill. Washington Week is PBS’ longest-running public affairs
series and features Washington’s top journalists analyzing the week’s
top news stories and their effect on the lives of all Americans.
Incumbent will maintain and support Washington Week website; and
develop, manage and implement digital media strategy and social media
activities.

Primary responsibilities include producing new content
(including video and text) for Washington Week website; supporting
development and implementation of a digital media strategy; and
developing social media strategy and manage and implement social media
activity for Washington Week. Must have knowledge of current events,
U.S. politics, geopolitics, history, and government/political process
and national news periodicals; knowledge of and proven ability and
success in web production and producing web content with digital media
technologies; and knowledge of social media sites/usage, Drupal or
similar and Final Cut Pro or other editing software.  College degree
in Journalism, or equivalent combination of education and experience
in relevant field.

Minimum three years of experience in news
reporting/producing either online, print or television.  Experience
should include two years of experience in web production, including
social media activities.

This position is currently funded through June 2012.
For consideration, please send letter of interest, salary
requirements, and resume to hr@weta.com or visit our website at
www.weta.org for the full job description and on-line application.
WETA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

August 4, 2011

By Susan Older, Founder of Displaced Journalists and Real World Media

I refuse to give up on the journalism profession. I refuse to give up on displaced journalists, either. Not just the people in our Displaced Journalists community here on the Web, on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but all journalists who can’t find a place where they belong anymore.

We need to reinvent our profession to keep good journalism alive.

Our society depends upon a free and vigilant press. It is a fundamental building block of our democracy.

• It provides citizens with the news and information they need to make their lives safer, easier, happier and more fulfilling.

• It gives citizens the comfort of knowing someone is out there looking after their interests.

• It provides the fundamental role of ensuring an informed electorate.

• It holds accountable the officials citizens elect at the polls.

Why is journalism broken? We all know the answer: It’s money. It’s not the Internet. It’s the lack of revenue models for both print and online news and information operations.

Only Steve Jobs has hit on a real revenue model. The App Store is brilliant, but it appears publishers who try to sell their content as apps will get only a small bite of the Apple – too little for sustenance. We need to think about how we could emulate that model without giving our product away.

We need to determine who will pay for quality content. I believe the demand still exists.

We need to restore citizens’ trust in the news they read and the journalists who report it. We can do this. The solution lies in getting the best and the brightest back to work and in a position to mentor young journalists, to pass on the mojo, the dedication, the ethical standards and the devotion to excellence that once defined our profession.

I propose a revolutionary solution to save journalism and journalists.

Real World Media.

It is a big idea and it will require serious funding. Can it be done? Absolutely. Can I do it alone? Of course not. We need help and we need funding. I do believe, though, that it is a start.

We must pose the question of how to find buyers for quality content. Let’s give it a shot. Let’s come together to devise a plan that will improve as it evolves. We need solutions that address the concerns of citizens of local, state, national and global communities. Let’s be realistic: globalization has changed the rules of the game. Almost all of the things we cover are playing out to some degree on a global scale.

So what is the future of journalism? How can we address these issues.

Real World Media: What is it? Why participate?

Real World Media is designed to be the first location-based (think FourSquare), mobile-device-driven global news web. It will provide tailored news and information coverage by top-notch, vetted reporters, photojournalists and news videographers who are already at or near the scene – and top notch editors who interact with these journalists and fine-tune their work.

Real World Media will provide journalists with the work they haven’t been able to find and the respect they deserve. Journalists will be paid fairly and immediately (think PayPal) – a rare occurrence for freelancers in the wake of our industry’s massive job losses.

Journalists will be associated with the best and the brightest colleagues – reporters, editors, photojournalists and news videographers – all of them drawn to Real World Media because it’s a prestigious, trusted network and it’s their best chance of getting fair compensation for a job well done.

The editorial board of Real World Media will screen journalists who seek to be part of its global network. Journalists who have the right stuff will start receiving assignments once it’s up and running. Journalists who don’t make the cut right away will be referred to customized training and performance-improvement solutions to help them qualify at a later date.

The first step in any new venture is to look at it from the point of view of the customer. Of course, this has always been the case for journalists. We’ve been trained to make coverage decisions based on what our readers want. I have always referred to this as the “what does it mean to me” factor. Readers didn’t subscribe to newspapers unless they delivered news and information that directly affected their lives. How can we make our coverage so good that readers or users will pay for it online? It’s a tough question, but we must come with a solution. We can’t just give up.

What about coverage of “what they need to know”? Yes, we’ve always done that, too, because the great thing about newspapers was that readers stumbled upon things they couldn’t have predicted they would want to read. It was serendipity. That’s something we’ve lost to varying degrees as news and information migrated to online sites. Now users tend to go to the sites that reflect their specific interests or views. Real World Media will offer engaging enterprise stories, photos and video designed to put the serendipity back into news sites.

What keeps Real World Media customers up at night?

Entrepreneurs in every field look for the “pain point.” They ask the question: “What keeps our potential customers up at night?” If they can’t answer that question, they need to go back to square one and figure it out.

Let’s look at our potential customers’ needs and address them as if we were speaking directly to them.

This is a sample scenario:

You are a managing editor at a news and information operation – either print or online. You have dismissed more of your staff than you knew was wise. You did it because, financially, you believed you had no choice. You or your publisher felt it was necessary to trim the budget to stay in business. Unfortunately, you got rid of the best and the most experienced journalists because their salaries were the highest.

Now you’re looking at a decimated newsroom and a big story breaks – one that directly affects your readers and your community. It could be floods, drought, and forest fires. It could be corruption in your local police department or city hall. It could be a scandal, playing out in Washington, one that involves local or state officials. It could be a story about a local military man or woman engaged in battle half way around the world. You want to cover these things, and you want the local angle, probably with photos and video, but you don’t have a staffer to spare.

What do you do?

• Do you send a journalist, possibly insufficiently experienced, to deal with a difficult assignment, bagging the important story he or she was working on before you had to shift gears?

• Do you resign yourself to using a wire service story, knowing that they are extremely unlikely to give you the local angle and that the same story will appear everywhere else?

• Do you call a freelancer whom you may not know? Are you confident he or she will get to the scene on time? Are they any good? Do you need to find a photojournalist or news videographer, as well?

• How much time can you afford to spend setting this coverage in motion?

You get the point. No matter what you do, you rob your readers of one thing to give them another. That hurts. You never had to make this tradeoff in the past. You once had a good and sizable staff that was capable of doing it all and doing it all well. Your newsroom ran smoothly – okay, as smoothly as possible. You could afford to take time lining up freelancers around the world for a big story, and once you did that you had a big enough staff to assign your own reporters to get the local angle.

Readers were loyal because you gave them news and information that truly affected their lives – their children, healthcare, family budgets, safety, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, housing, etc. When it came to investigative reporting or breaking news coverage that affected your readers anywhere around the globe, you gave readers your best. Can you do this now, with sparse resources?

Real World Media clients: what we give you

So you decide to become a Real World Media client. Real World Media will provide a simple and affordable solution to the many problems brought about by staff shortages. You will get full coverage without breaking the bank. You, your publisher, your readers and great journalists can all sleep at night.

Real World Media takes your requests and uses cutting edge technology to locate journalists, photographers and videographers around the world to cover the story to your specifications. Maybe it’s a story breaking halfway around the globe, but it affects people from your town, city or state. Real World Media will cover the global and the local angles of the story.

You will pay Real World Media and its journalists well because you know they are worth it and you get what you need from them. Just think about what you once paid your most valuable staff members, the ones you had to dismiss as advertising dwindled and news and information took off into uncharted digital territory.

Real World Media is not designed to take jobs away from working journalists. We’re happy to see journalists working at all. As for jobless journalists, we genuinely hope they will find great jobs again. For now, though, why not tap into their talent and experience through a system you can trust. But let me be clear: Real World Media is not a content mill.

It’s a win-win for everyone. You will save on salary, benefits, travel expenses, and expensive equipment by using the services of Real World Media. Journalists will get what they need by joining the Real World Media network, which ensures that they will be paid fairly and rapidly. As our network grows, we hope to negotiate group rates on benefits such as health care.

Your readers will get what they want, whether it is international or domestic coverage with a community angle or an investigative reporting project right down the road that you cannot begin to staff. It might even be a feature story you just know your readers would enjoy, one that would enrich their lives.

As a client of Real World Media you  will have at least three options:

• You may make a special request for a local angle on any given story. Real World Media journalists will report it for you. This will serve your needs regardless of whether the story is happening inside or outside of your geographic community. It doesn’t matter. You will have the option of informing readers of more than what’s happening. You will tell them exactly what it means to them, with quotes from local citizens and local officials.

• You may request an exclusive story that will not be available or even visible to other clients on the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you want an exclusive on a breaking story or if you want a highly qualified team to handle an investigative project or local story that you don’t have the staff to handle.

• You may buy a story that appeals to your audience straight off the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you simply want the best possible coverage on an important story. This would serve your needs if you don’t need a local angle and aren’t concerned with exclusivity, but don’t want to run a wire service story identical to the one your competition carries.

Real World Media will run the network. We will find, evaluate and direct the reporters, editors, photographers and videographers. We will have layers of editors – all highly experienced, respected and trustworthy. We will maintain a website featuring synopses of all the stories available for purchase, the price, and the option to negotiate exclusive stories or big stories with local angles.

You will tell us what you need and we will find the best journalists for you. We will use cutting-edge, location-based, mobile technology to stay in touch with journalists (reporters, editors, photographers or videographers) who are at or near the scene and prepared to take the assignment. If another journalist is required to interview people in your community for a local angle, we will provide that service, too.

You will pay a fair price for stories produced by Real World Media’s global network of journalists because you know they are worth it. They will fill the void created when you laid off your best staffers.

Real World Media will charge for the story, the photos or the video you commission from our network of journalists. You will be obligated by contract to buy the assigned story, photos or video, regardless of whether you use it. You will pay more if you decide to alter your original request. Of course, good reporters, photographers and videographers think for themselves and are highly likely to deliver more than you asked for, simply because of the situation they find on the ground when they are in the process of reporting or shooting photos or video.

Real World Media will have a multi-layered network of highly experienced and vetted editors to ensure that customers receive professionally edited products.

None of this is carved in stone. In fact, this is just a jumping off point.

Please join the discussion and add you thoughts on this concept. I am working on the website and marketing materials now. I would love to hear what you think, here on the Displaced Journalists site, on the Real World Media Facebook page, or privately at susanolder@realworldmedia.org. If you have other networking ideas, let’s find a way to implement them.

____________________________________________

Editor’s note: You are reading this on Displaced Journalists, so you may be wondering why I chose to speak to the customer rather than directly to you about this idea I’ve been hatching for the past year. The answer is this: You can see your role as you read this. We need to draw attention to the concept and get customers and funding sources interested. All of the information I’ve come up with thus far is in this piece, except for how we will price stories and how much Real World Media journalists will be able to earn. At this point, I don’t know how much you will earn if we do get funding and this becomes a reality. However, I am devoted to ensuring that journalists are paid fairly. You will be part of the process as we begin to determine rates. In no way will this resemble a content mill. If any of you can offer your programming, design or marketing skills for the cause, I can certainly use them. I have no funding at this point, and, of course, Displaced Journalists has never been about making money.

– Susan Older

By Andrew Phelps, Nieman Journalism Lab

As he prepares to step down from the top of American Public Media, his job for the last 44 years, I recently made the mistake of congratulating Bill Kling on his retirement.

Kling launched what would become Minnesota Public Radio in 1967, the year President Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act. He was a founding board member of National Public Radio in 1970. He helped create American Public Media, in 2004, to distribute MPR’s portfolio of hits, including Marketplace and A Prairie Home Companion. His company is the largest owner and operator of noncommercial stations, reaching more than 15 million listeners per week, and is expected to make $110 million in FY11.

So I guess I thought the man was ready to retire.

Nope. On the contrary, Kling said, he is out to make public radio bigger and, he hopes, save local journalism in the process. He departs American Public Media on July 1 to become a freelance fundraiser, lobbyist, and, maybe most importantly, cheerleader.

“What I’m passionate about now is the potential that public media has, particularly public radio,” Kling told me. “If you look at the potential it’s got and then you look at the way it’s structured, organized, and the impact it’s having, there’s a huge disconnect. It’s simply not living up to the promise.”

The Tempering Element

Kling has put forth a bold proposal to hire 100 reporters in the largest American markets, starting with pilot stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Twin Cities. (A hundred reporters is about the equivalent of a large newspaper staff.) As metro dailies shrivel in size — including the two greats in his state, the Strib and the Pioneer Press — Kling views public radio as the institution best positioned to pick up the slack.

“Radio and television and cable seem to be picking up a lot of money….” Read more.

Editor’s note: If you know me, you know I wouldn’t normally suggest working for nothing. However, I know Tom Stites. I think his revolutionary, non-profit venture to serve less than affluent Americans has a real shot at success.

Tom Stites

Whether you’re at the intern level or a seasoned journalist willing to take a gamble on an exciting startup, you would invest a small amount of time to be in position for a full-time gig if the project takes off.  — Susan Older

By Tom Stites
Founder and President, the Banyan Project

The Banyan Project is moving toward launching a pilot project to test its pioneering new business model for Web journalism and is searching for a reporter/editor.  The project is devoted to serving the distinctive information needs of less-than-affluent Americans, a huge public that’s ill-served by mainstream journalism and has borne the brunt of the Great Recession.  At first this will be a volunteer position requiring 8 to 10 hours a week to research and write simple service journalism items for the pilot; presuming that the pilot is successful, for the right person this could grow into a challenging full-time paid job.

The ideal person for this position would be an experienced journalist with 1) empathy for the lives of the less-than-affluent and 2) interest in the life issues they face, including family health when uninsured or underinsured, credit and savings when money is scarce, and jobs in a down economy.  People who are neither affluent nor poverty-stricken make up about half the population, and there is almost no reliable reporting to help them with the things that keep them up at night.  This position’s mission is to help them sleep better.

Banyan’s aim is to create a new business model and institutional structure for Web journalism that can thrive in the digital future.  The model’s foundation is the consumer co-op, meaning that Banyan sites will be owned by their readers the way depositors own credit unions and shoppers own food coops.  The Banyan concept has won a Game Changer Award from the 2010 WeMedia conference and has led to a fellowship at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, which opened Harvard resources for detailed business planning.

Banyan Publishing Corp. is incorporated as a nonprofit and it has filed with the IRS for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.  Fundraising efforts are well under way.  To learn more about the broad Banyan concept, go to banyanproject.com.

If you’re interested in a detailed job description, send me an email at the address on my website, tomstites.com.

By Aaron Crowe
Tales of an Underemployed Dad

I’m taking meetings for the next two weeks as I try to decide if my career choice to be a journalist is a dying profession or a thriving one. I think it’s a thriving one where storytellers are still needed.

Aaron Crowe

Instead of going door to door, applying for jobs online or seeking out businesses to hire me, I’m turning the tables and offering my services for the next two weeks so I can be an exclusive writer/editor for companies that need such work. I’m calling it “Rent a Journalist.”

As a freelance journalist since being laid off at a newspaper about three years ago, I’ve spent a lot of my time chasing down job leads, applying for jobs, and doing everything I can to get the next freelance assignment. I’ve had steady work for most of that time, writing personal finance stories for WalletPop. But that’s going to change soon.

The AOL site is being absorbed into another website as part of the Huffington Post acquisition by AOL. I work on a monthly contract and have been told to reapply for my job as a fulltime writer, which I’ve done, but I’m unsure if I’ll be hired fulltime. Since the company has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I don’t know if they’ll hire me fulltime to work from home, as many writers/editors at WalletPop do.

If we come to an agreement, great. If not, this is part of my backup plan, which I’m trying out for the next two weeks as I offer my writing and editing services, among other things, such as social media liaison, to businesses. I’m pitching my services to existing or past clients, abut I’m also approaching websites I’d like to work for, the ones who I think would like my work.

This is my pitch:

Instead of wondering if I’ll be available to write for your website or publication in the future, you can lock me in with an offer now to work for you. I’ve covered personal finance for WalletPop for a little more than two years, and have some of the highest-trafficked posts on the website. I can do the same for you.

I’m open to long-term contracts or month-to-month; but what I’m mainly looking for is steady work and a commitment. It can be exclusive on a subject — family finances, for example — but that will take a longer commitment, such as daily blog posts. Or it can be a weekly column on something like personal finance and the food industry, that will still be a long-term contract but will only be for writing once a week.

The advantages to your company in signing me now? You get my time and work before anyone else does, guaranteeing you a steady stream of quality work that will be unique to your publication. As a journalist I’m trained in general assignment stories, and can provide original reporting and writing on any topics you need. Again, I’ve specialized in personal finance writing for the past few years, so I can write for your site on those issues, or expand to tech, families, food, retail, education, health, and many others. For example, I currently write for Dealnews.com about the psychology of shopping each week, so I wouldn’t be available to write about that topic for other sites.

I have other services I can provide, including helping with social media campaigns, writing publicity and press releases, covering corporate events, and photography.

Don’t let this opportunity pass. Rent a journalist — this journalist — before it’s too late.

Position: Media Manager
Location: Washington, DC

The American Independent News Network (AINN) seeks a dynamic individual to manage the promotion of the Network’s amazing reporters and hot breaking stories to outside media, including to press and through social media.  The Media Manager’s job will be to spread the word far and wide about AINN’s journalism. This means developing relationships with producers, bloggers, reporters at other outlets, Twitter gurus, and others in the media world who can multiply the reach of our stories.

AINN is a nonprofit online news organization comprised of news sites in eight states and Washington, DC. AINN’s reporters once described themselves as “ink-stained wretches of the digital era.” They are a dedicated, hard-working team that breaks hot political stories nearly everyday: stories that impact public debate and advance the common good, stories that move readers to take action, stories that inspire readers to name livestock after our reporters.

Responsibilities

There are two primary areas for which you, as Media Manager, will be responsible: outreach to existing media, and managing AINN’s social media strategy. At times, if you are creative about it, the two areas will overlap.

You will be responsible for managing and implementing all outreach to relevant broadcast, print, and online press outlets, organizations, websites, and more.  This includes marketing our reporters and their pieces to various news organizations for media pick up.  You will work with the editorial team to ensure that stories are being sent to the relevant news outlets.  You will be responsible for managing and standardizing social media practices for and across the Network.  Wit, flexibility, and innovation are keys to success.

Additionally, as Media Manager, you will:

• Identify opportunities for outside media coverage of AINN and stories produced through the Network and secure appropriate coverage.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with reporters, producers, and editors,
• Ensure the press database is up-to-date and well-organized.
• Identify new ways to promote the network and work through social media.
• Create and manage social media standards for the network.
• Research and implement new social media opportunities.
• Work within the publishing department to coordinate collaborative press and outreach strategy.
• Work with the editorial department to organize all direct and indirect press citations and appearances.
• Promote media appearances by Network representatives as appropriate.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate for Media Manager:

• Is an effective writer and communicator, understanding how to tailor messaging to different audiences.- has an existing active online presence.
• Works quickly to take advantage of opportunities.
• Collaborates effectively and understands why it’s important.
• Believes in the strength of online journalism.
• Has a college degree and relevant experience that translates to this position.
• Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.
• This position reports to the Publisher.
• This position is based out of the AINN home office in Washington, DC, where there is a mini-cupcake maker and a combination egg poacher-toaster.

To Apply:

All interested applicants should email their cover letter, resume, and relevant samples of your work to applications@tainews.org.  Please use a subject heading that grabs our attention and makes us want to open your email.

About The American Independent News Network

The American Independent News Network is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that investigates and disseminates news that impacts public debate and advances the common good.  To accomplish its mission, we operate an independent online news network.   An informed citizenry is a fundamental principle of civil society and American democracy; in the words of the Supreme Court in Garrison v. Louisiana: “Speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self government.”  Our reporting emphasizes the positive role of democratically elected government in securing the common good and social welfare, and the continuing benefits of our founding culture of egalitarian government by the people, for the people.

For more about The American Independent News Network, please visit tainews.org.

Contact:

Hanaa Rifaey
Publisher
T: 202.387.3670 ext. 224
C: 202.379.8184
hanaa@tainews.org

The American Independent News Network
americanindependent.com
coloradoindependent.com
floridaindependent.com
iowaindependent.com
michiganmessenger.com
minnesotaindependent.com
newmexicoindependent.com
txindependent.com
washingtonindependent.com

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Visiting Business Journalism Professor’s Program will begin January 2012, with visiting professors assigned to four campuses to teach business journalism coursework during a semester in residence.
The program is designed to initiate business journalism courses and curricula at accredited journalism schools across the U.S. that do not have an established presence in business journalism but aspire to have one. Selected universities commit to coursework in business journalism that has the goal of training professionals to cover business and economic issues.

The program is administered through the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, under the direction of Reynolds Center President Andrew Leckey.

Visiting professors are asked to:

▪    Commit full time to a full semester at a participating university.

▪    Teach two classes in business journalism during their appointed semester in residence;

▪    Participate in the Center’s webinars on important financial topics;

▪    Establish a mentoring relationship with a local business journalist or news outlet in their community;

▪    Help create at least one media partnerships with a media organization in the community where business journalism stories generated by the visiting professor’s class may be used;

▪    Contribute at least one article for use on the Reynolds Center’s website, BusinessJournalism.org.

Visiting professors will be provided with dedicated office space in the journalism building at the campus to which they are assigned and have IT and administrative support. They will become part of the Reynolds Foundation network and receive support throughout the semester in the form of class outlines and materials as well as guidance and mentoring.

The Center is interested in building a pool of prospective visiting professors. Applications are being accepted online at Visiting Professor Program – Professor Application.

Applicants are asked to register and create a username and password. This allows applicants to return to the application at any time before the deadline to complete the process or make changes.
Applicants also are asked to provide a statement of professional qualifications, including experience in business journalism and teaching, as well as two professional letters of reference. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Read more about the Reynolds’ Visiting Business Journalism Professor Program.

CINCINNATI – Leveraging its strength and reputation in an effort to define the future of journalism, The E.W. Scripps Company is shifting resources within its newspaper division to add multimedia journalists, editors and web developers in the company’s 13 newspaper markets.

Through the new Scripps Fellows program, as many as 40 people will be hired for full-time positions that will last either six or 12 months. Recent college graduates or other individuals with relevant journalism or Web experience can apply for the positions. Scripps will hire promising talent in the fields of:

• multimedia reporting,
• online production,
• Web development,
• web design,
• user-experience analysis,
• copy editing, and
• page design

The fellows will be hired in October and November and will contribute to the community-changing journalism of Scripps newspapers, which include: The Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel; Naples (Fla.) Daily News; …  Click to read the entire story at Poynter Online.