We're hiring!
The University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism has begun searches for two bureau director positions with Capital News Service, the college's student-powered news organization.
Below are job descriptions for CNS Annapolis Bureau Director and CNS Audience Engagement Bureau Director.
For best consideration for either position, please email a cover letter, resume and list of three references to aapyles@umd.edu and wmkaiser@umd.edu by Nov. 17, 2023.
Annapolis Bureau Director
Position Summary: The University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism seeks a director for the Annapolis bureau of Capital News Service. Reporters, editors and educators with experience teaching, editing or mentoring student journalists or young reporters are encouraged to apply. This is a nine-month, non-tenure track renewable lecturer position to start no later than January 2024. The successful candidate will be responsible for Capital News Service’s Annapolis bureau, located near the State House. Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For more than three decades, it has provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues important to Maryland citizens. The students in Capital News Service come from Merrill’s undergraduate and master’s programs and work in Washington, Annapolis and College Park. The successful candidate must have excellent reporting and writing skills, as well as strong news judgment. Students under the direction of this faculty member, and in collaboration with other faculty members, produce news on a variety of platforms and in real time for a destination website and for several dozen client news organizations throughout Maryland, Washington, Delaware and Virginia. Those clients include The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, local broadcast stations and their websites, and several national news outlets. The students’ work often appears in outlets across the country and in other parts of the world, as well.
Students under the direction of this editor, and other editors, will:
- Prepare for the journalism jobs available today while experimenting with the reporting and storytelling methods that might be the profession’s future.
- Report and write stories (daily and enterprise) for the CNS website and CNS clients.
- Use data reporting techniques to tell deeply reported stories.
- Use social media to report and tell stories.
- Shoot and edit photos, and possibly audio and video.
- Create basic data visualizations to go with stories (charts, maps, graphics).
Minimum Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree. Experience as a multimedia reporter and/or editor. Experience with basic data journalism techniques.
Preferences: At least eight years of experience as a reporter, editor or journalism educator covering local, state or national news. A master’s degree in journalism. Knowledge of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of Maryland government.
Audience Engagement Bureau Director
Position Summary: The University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism seeks a director for the audience engagement bureau of Capital News Service. Journalists and educators with experience teaching, editing or mentoring students or young journalists are encouraged to apply. This is a nine-month, non-tenure track renewable lecturer position to start no later than January 2024. The successful candidate will be responsible for Capital News Service’s audience engagement bureau, located on the University of Maryland campus, and will also teach related courses. Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For more than three decades, it has provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues important to Maryland citizens. The students in Capital News Service come from Merrill’s undergraduate and master’s programs and work in Washington, Annapolis and College Park. The successful candidate must have excellent writing, editing and digital production skills, as well as strong news judgment. Students under the direction of this faculty member, and in collaboration with other faculty members, translate CNS journalism into social media content, develop and execute engagement strategies, develop new products, collaborate with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, the Local News Network and other CNS bureaus and capstone courses on project journalism, analyze digital user metrics and more.
Students under the direction of this editor, and other editors, will:
- Prepare for audience engagement careers in journalism and potentially other professions by mastering audience-focused thinking, not a particular platform.
- Create social media content for popular and emerging platforms that is compelling, informative and helpful.
- Identify potential stories through social listening and by identifying online trends.
- Contribute to stories by finding sources in online communities.
- Produce journalism that resonates with younger and new audiences.
- Experiment with engagement strategies that start conversations with the CNS audience.
- Use digital user metrics to better understand the CNS audience.
- Produce the CNS website, including working with other CNS bureaus to maximize search engine optimization.
- Develop new products that engage our existing audience and reach new audience members.
- Work with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and other partners on audience engagement and content strategies.
Minimum Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree. Journalism and digital storytelling experience. Expertise managing or producing content for a website and social media platforms, including knowledge of trends and best practices. Expert understanding of digital user metrics.
Preferences: At least eight years of experience as a journalist or journalism educator. A master’s degree in journalism. A track record of successful product development. Graphic design skills. HTML, CSS and other web coding skills.
Please consider applying if you meet 75% of the listed qualifications.
More on Merrill College and the University of Maryland
Founded in 1947, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism has approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students and approximately 60 faculty and staff. Merrill is located just 10 miles from the White House and was chosen as one of 12 top journalism schools that took part in the prestigious Carnegie-Knight Initiative. The college’s Local News Network, Capital News Service, Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Howard Center for Investigative Journalism work collaboratively to produce innovative and impactful work that trains the next generation of journalists while helping the field transform itself for a more sustainable and inclusive future.
The University of Maryland, College Park, an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, political affiliation, personal appearance, or on the basis of rights secured by the First Amendment, in all aspects of employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.