General Summary of the Position
The 360 Journalist is the person charged with newsgathering, photography, still or video, social media coordinator, website content development and management, including editorial and advertising/marketing partnerships bundled with the print component, for The Texas Catholic and any of its directly related products. This position will be exempt.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities of the Position
The 360 Journalist is responsible for attending events, meetings, liturgies, etc., under the auspices of The Texas Catholic Publishing Co. At the direction of the Editor and Managing Editor develop appropriate journalistic content from those events/assignments using all the newsgathering and technical tools available. The 360 Journalist attends all staff news planning meetings and gives input on the types of content that would be appropriate for the various platforms. With the Editor and/or Managing Editor plans which assignments to go to and the appropriate content needed from that event/meeting/liturgy and on which platforms and the appropriate intervals released in order to disseminate that content. All this is done with the adherence to The Texas Catholic evangelization and business strategy. The 360 Journalist will then follow through with the coverage, including photography, writing, posting to social media, and follow-through for the website, if appropriate, and the print products. The 360 Journalist, through the direction of the Editor and/or Managing Editor, will upload content to the related websites and help manage its content strategically on a daily basis. Because of the close relationship online between editorial content and advertising/marketing content, the 360 Journalist also will work with the Editor, Managing Editor and Advertising Director in identifying, selling and leveraging advertising partnerships, both in print and online, for more fully integrated products. Coordinates with New Media Strategist at the Diocese of Dallas.
Position Requirements
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
The 360 Journalist must be a practicing Catholic in good standing, who will approach assignments in a comprehensive journalistic fashion. He/she will ensure that all material – names, events/interview highlights, story background and perspective – is gathered prior to and at the assignment in order to provide appropriate and high-quality content, free of error. He/she must have excellent English-writing skills that will enable him/her to produce content for the various platforms. The successful candidate will be knowledgeable with the latest trends in the industry in order to improve his/her own composition and technical skills in the process and for the betterment of The Texas Catholic and all of its products. The 360 Journalist should know or quickly become familiar with all of the parishes in the Diocese of Dallas, the diocesan-based and Catholic non-diocesan based schools and their key staff members. Because of the need to frequently visit those properties and interact with its staff, good interpersonal skills are important for this position. Because of the sensitive and important mandate to cover and photograph Masses, liturgies and other events inside sanctuaries and schools, the 360 Journalist must use extraordinary judgment in the newsgathering process in order to maintain decorum and the sanctity of any event while performing his/her duties. Suitable candidate must have or be able to quickly adapt to the organization’s web content management system. The candidate must be proficient in a variety of software editing skills, including but not limited to Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and a host of Adobe products, particularly Adobe Photoshop, and video editing software such as Avid, iMovie or FinalCut. He/she must have excellent knowledge of and the tools needed for social media, including Smartphones and tablets, among others, and have experience with DSLR cameras and their functions and how to integrate their use in the pursuit of content and dissemination on all platforms. Proficiency in Spanish, reading and writing, and knowledge of HTML and other coding would be a plus. The successful candidate should be able to adapt quickly to new equipment and software needed to perform his/her duties.
Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree, preferably in journalism or communications, and three years’ experience working at a newspaper, communications company or web-based media company performing newsgathering, photography, web content management, working with editorial partners for advertising and/or marketing leveraging, with experience requirements and qualifications and salary ultimately determined by the Editor.
How to apply: Send résumé, samples of work or location where they can be found to David, Sedeño, editor, The Texas Catholic, at dsedeno@cathdal.org through March 1, 2013.
