Job Description
OVERVIEW
Across our organization, we're building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success.
Planet Money is looking for a new producer to join our highly-collaborative, tight-knit team. We move fast. We hold ourselves to high standards. We treat each other with respect and consideration and we laugh in our morning meetings often. We also nerd out about economics and storytelling and take mentoring and professional development of junior producers seriously. Right now, we need someone who can get excited about the topics we cover, about making our show even better and about helping our talented hosts do their best work on tight deadlines. If that sounds interesting, read on.
ASSOCIATE PRODCUER RESPONSIBILITIES
• Assist reporters as needed.
• Produce tracking for episodes, coaching reporters and contributors.
• Cut, edit and mix episodes of the show with guidance from producers and reporters.
• Identify and book guests, both experts and unexpected characters.
• Participate in group edits, offering ideas and suggestions for improving drafts.
• Assist in writing episodes as needed.
• Gather field tape and ''found sound'' from online and other sources.
• Assist with live events.
• Conduct research on show topics.
• Pitch stories that help our audience understand the economy better.
• Produce content for digital media, including writing and scheduling social media posts, writing web copy and newsletters.
• Contribute to the overall journalism of the team generally.
• Assist in coordinating workflow scheduling and communication with other units of NPR as needed to execute the show.
• Complete other tasks as needed.
• Expected to pitch thorough, thought out show ideas for hosts to execute.
• Field reporting.
• Assist junior staff members in developing skills
• Provide actionable editorial feedback to hosts and other producers.
• Propose creative ways to execute on stories illustrating complex economic ideas
• Coordinate the work of multiple staffers as they collaborate to meet deadlines.
QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION: Minimum education experience, required or preferred. (Ex: Bachelor's degree or equivalent in work experience)
ASSOCICATE PRODUCER REQUIRED SKILLS
• 1-3 years of experience in a news environment or working experience in the field of economics.
• Experience in podcasting and/or radio broadcasting.
• Ability to edit audio decisively, on deadline, ideally in Pro Tools
• Strong storytelling sensibilities, an ability to identify anecdotes that can bring a larger idea or research finding to life, able to re-structure a story to enhance clarity and flow.
• Experience and demonstrated commitment to fact checking.
• Demonstrated ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadline pressure.
• Ability to handle more than one assignment at a time; ability to prioritize, anticipate and communicate effectively.
• Ability and willingness to work varied shifts.
• Proven ability to consistently work well with others, demonstrating, at all times, respect for the diverse constituencies at NPR and within the public radio system
• 3-8 years experience
• Ability to troubleshoot audio recording in remote environments
• Experience booking guests on deadline
• Ability to edit audio decisively on deadline, with little supervision or guidance.
• Ability to handle complex projects with little guidance at high journalistic standards.
• Ability and willingness to relocate. In the future, NPR may choose to transfer employees to other geographic locations. Severance provisions of the AFTRA collective bargaining agreement will apply should you choose not to accept a transfer.
PREFERRED SKILLS
• Ability to use recording equipment to gather field sound.
• A natural interest in news.
• An economics, business or finance background or at least a curiosity in the subject matter.
• A practiced instinct for social media.
• Ambition and interest in improving our web and social media presence.
• Digital media skills, including proficiency in social media as a news gathering technique.
• Sound design skills.
• A knowledge of narrative audio.
HOW TO APPLY
• All applications must include a cover letter and a resume.
• In your letter:
Please choose a recent episode we could have done better and tell us how you would improved it. Write your critique how you might deliver it in a group edit.
Please give us a sense of what you are curious about and how you'd bring that curiosity to the team.
• It's OK to be casual and conversational in your cover letter, that's how we are on the show, that's how we are with each other. Overall, your application should answer the question: how will hiring you change Planet Money for the better.
Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rez4q8-34-204-196-206-42 in your application.