SAG Reporter (Outdoors Engagement Reporter)

Status (FT/LT): 6 Months, with potential Temporary-to-Permanent 

Position Summary

This position requires an experienced reporter who is capable of reporting daily news and feature stories in an authoritative and conversational manner that connects with audiences. KQED reporters are expected to produce journalism across all platforms, including audio and text, as well as social and other media. 

Reporters must be proficient at spots, features, cut-and-copy, voicers and live on-air debriefings for broadcast and must be equally proficient at writing text stories and producing other online news content.  Reporters are expected to produce content for relevant platforms, such as video, email newsletters and apps. 

Reporters at KQED are also expected to contribute to news planning, staying atop daily local and national news through multiple sources. A KQED Reporter must also be capable of working across a number of different departments, with colleagues of varying experience levels, and complete their work under deadline pressure.

The successful candidate will be required to join The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). 

KQED envisions a public media organization with a culture that centers on human dignity, equity, and belonging. This will enable us to better serve and reflect the Bay Area through diverse and inclusive storytelling. 

We value the contributions of marginalized people in society — including Black, Indigenous, and all people of color,  people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people — and we believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do, and we strongly encourage members of these communities to apply.

KQED Code of Ethics  https://www.kqed.org/about/code-ethics

The mission that drives us:

KQED provide citizens of Northern California with a community-supported alternative to commercial media.   We provide citizens with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions; convene community dialogue; bring the arts to everyone and engage audiences to share their stories. We help students and teachers thrive in 21st-century classrooms, and take people of all ages on journeys of exploration- exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

This role will work hybrid between working in KQED's newly renovated headquarters and working remotely. KQED requires employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Salary Information: $39.00 - $56.00 per hour

Essential Functions:

• Researches, writes and reports news stories for radio, podcast, broadcast, the web, mobile and social media platforms.
• Reports and produces stories both from inside the newsroom and in the field.
• Assists Editors and KQED News team in developing coverage strategies and daily assignments. 
• Performs other duties as assigned. 

Knowledge/Experience Required:

• Professional experience as broadcast, print and/or online journalist, including news reporting, editing and production.
• Excellent reporting skills. 
• Excellent news writing skills; the ability to write quickly and accurately, with an understanding of tone and style across platforms; proficiency using correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and pronunciation 
• Ability to accurately communicate facts and verify information.
• Excellent news judgment. 
• Good editing skills. 
• Strong time management skills.
• Thorough command of journalistic principles, ethics and standards. 
• Strong command of sound editing and radio production techniques. 
• Experience of web, mobile social media platform editing and publishing. 
• High proficiency of on-air voicing skills. 
• Ability to interview and communicate with a variety of individuals. 
• Ability to research and communicate through a variety of mobile and digital tools.
• Ability to meet deadlines and goals while working under pressure
• Proven collaboration skills — which are essential in working with fellow KQED staffers across departments and with partner organizations
• Ability to stay organized and prioritize tasks when working on multiple projects at once.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to lift a minimum of fifteen (15) pounds;
• Ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull or carry;
• Ability to use abdominal and lower back muscles over time without fatigue;
• Ability to stand and/or sit for extended periods;
• Ability to bend, stoop, stretch, twist, sit, and reach;
• Fine motor skills;
• Good visual and auditory acuity.

The Outdoors Engagement Reporter will be on the frontlines of our ongoing mission to inform and engage our audiences, as well as a key player on the digital news team. They will be part of a team that pursues ongoing coverage of issues that matter most to Bay Area residents in the nine counties and beyond. And this reporter will leverage ways to invite audiences to contribute and respond to, as well as to engage and interact with our journalism. 

The Outdoors Engagement Reporter is expected to write 3-5 text stories for KQED.org every week – including same-day stories and explanatory guides – on the topic of the outdoors. Story topics could include weather alerts, hiking trail guides, the latest updates in conservation and environmentalism and travel within the immediate and wider Bay Area. They are proficient in using various tools to discover and gauge audience interests and curiosity – and using them to distinguish the balance between trending topics and community needs on stories relating to the outdoors. This includes web analytics, SEO, social media listening and other audience insights.They navigate social media and digital platforms professionally and with ease. They are comfortable working across departments within the news division and have working familiarity with digital media tools for audio and video editing. 

As a reporter devoted to audience-focused listening and reporting, this person will spend their time reporting and collaborating with other digital journalists and engagement specialists to produce ongoing outdoors-related coverage as well as special projects. This reporting and resulting stories will be multimedia and multi-platform.