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Stevenson Villager

Stevenson Villager

Stevenson Villager

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Editor-in-Chief position open for 2024-2025

The Stevenson Villager is accepting applications for the editor-in-chief position for the 2024-25 academic year.

Any full-time Stevenson student is eligible to apply. 

This is an unpaid position, but it may include paid travel, registration and lodging at a national journalism training program or conference, depending on the candidate’s schedule.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The editor-in-chief is in charge of all content for the Stevenson Villager online at stevensonvillager.com. 

The editor is the chief spokesperson for the news organization, primary representative in the campus community, addresses complaints and deals with all outside agencies and individuals when they interact with the news department. 

The editor-in-chief is selected by the Villager adviser, who will be assisted by the current editor-in-chief and with another faculty member during the application and interview process.

EIC Qualities:

No previous experience is required, but a portfolio of written work is required for an interview. Management experience or a media internship experience will be a plus.

The editor must also be an excellent verbal and written communicator, someone able to articulate the mission and vision of The Villager to both internal and external stakeholders, interest groups, and/or convention participants. 

In addition, the editor is someone who is well read and curious about what is happening at Stevenson and in society at large.

EIC Responsibilities:

  • Selects other editors and managers, and makes final decisions concerning personnel matters dealing with the news department.
  • With the Villager adviser, conducts editorial staff meetings.
  • Works closely with section editors (news, sports, features) to help each of them perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.
  • Works with multimedia editor, photo editor and the on-camera reporter to develop digital content for the Villager.
  • Works with the Villager marketing manager to promote Villager content to diverse audiences.
  • Either writes or edits a weekly submitted opinion piece that addresses an issue of concern for the Stevenson community. Opinion pieces should meet the same rigorous reporting standards that all Villager content must meet.
  • Meets regularly with Stevie TV, WildStang Radio and Greenspring Review managers to discuss collaboration and content sharing.
  • In consultation with the editorial staff, has final say on any aspect of news content or design.
  • Oversees digital edition, assists in completion of any aspect of editorial production that requires attention and does “final reads” on stories and digital content.
  • Leads all inquiry boards investigating allegations of misconduct on staff.

The Villager considers all candidates without regard to ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, medical condition, family care status, pregnancy or physical disability.

Interested students should send to Villager Adviser Jeff Browne ([email protected]):

  • a professional one-page resumè
  • a one-page cover letter addressing the EIC qualities and responsibilities above
  • a list of three on-campus references (with titles and email addresses) and
  • a portfolio of five pieces that reflect your best work in journalism, communication, broadcast or other related fields. 
    • An online portfolio site works best, but it could also be a link to a folder on Google Drive or OneDrive.

The deadline for applications is Friday, April 5. We will conduct a 30-minute interview with each candidate the week of April 8-12 and make a decision shortly after that. 

 

There’s still room for 2023-24

The Stevenson Villager staff, led by senior Editor-in-Chief Micah Ernest, is dedicated to providing Stevenson students, parents,  faculty and staff fact-based multimedia news that improves our lives as residents of Maryland, the U.S. and the world. We are looking for dedicated students to fill the following positions for the 2023-24 academic year:

Villager Editorial Staff

  1. Editor-in-Chief Micah Ernest
  2. Sports Editor Grant DeVivo
  3. News Editor (Open)
  4. Features Editor (Open)
  5. Multimedia (Open)
  6. Photo Editor (Open)
  7. Marketing/Social Media Manager (Open)
  8. Digital Reporter/Host (Open)

Detailed descriptions are below. If you’re interested in being a part of the Villager staff, please contact us at [email protected], Editor Micah Ernest at [email protected] or Adviser Jeff Browne at [email protected]. Serving on the students news site is great way to put your classroom learning to work in a real-life setting, and it will help you build your portfolio, whether you’re heading into communication, law, journalism, medicine or any profession in which effective communication is key.

SECTION EDITORS: Three content editors — News, Sports and Features — will:

  • Lead coverage of and assign other stories, if needed. 
  • Attend weekly meetings with editor-in-chief and other section editors to plan coverage.
  • Communicate with photo editor, multimedia editor, on-camera reporter and Stevenson resources to arrange for photographs, video, audio and any other digital media that would enhance the text-based stories they produce and/or assign.
  • Coach reporters on their writing and structure of their stories. 
  • Post stories to our website in a timely manner. 

All three section editors are expected to produce at least one story every week of the semester, whether reported or written by themselves, by another person, or by a team. Editors should reach out to sources in a timely manner, and encourage other reporters to do the same.

The News editor  and Features editor will cover both news content and student life coverage. They may alternate focus or favor one category over the other over time, but both will generate ideas and advice on both content areas. These editors may delegate responsibilities between themselves as necessary and are encouraged to go outside the confines of their News/Features concentrations in both editing and story development.

The Sports editor will be responsible for making sure Stevenson sports are covered consistently and thoroughly. If the editor is able to assemble a staff, they should delegate beats and make sure each story is produced quickly and effectively for the Villager. The sports editor will also be creative with story ideas — features on players and coaches, key figures, as well as analytical pieces about game patterns, athletic spending and SU sport trends.

DIGITAL EDITORS: Two digital editors — Photography and Multimedia (Digital) — will:

  • Provide visual and audio content to the EIC and other Section Editors by 
    • producing the digital elements themselves or 
    • delegating and coordinating photographers and videographers to story assignments. 
  • If they assemble staffs, they will:
    • Lead photo/digital meetings.
    • Coach photographers, videographers and graphic artists. 
    • Assign deadlines. 
  • Attend all weekly meetings to plan. 
  • Communicate with other editors to ensure stories have accompanying visuals.
  • Oversee visuals needed for live sporting events.
  • Edit photos, videos, audios and other digital content in a timely manner.
  • Place finished visuals onto the server in the proper folders, including video platforms that enable editors to embed video into stories.

The Photography editor will be responsible for loading photos into the media library on the Villager website, complete with photo credits and captions. 

The Multimedia (Digital) editor will also work with designers and illustrators on visual (non-photo or video) components of our site, including illustrations, graphs, graphics, videos and audio stories or podcasts. They will work with our marketing/social media manager on socialling out our photographers’ work.

MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: The marketing/social media manager will be a part of the management team that meets once per week during the semester. Their primary job responsibilities will be to: 

  • Use social media to give our content a broader reach and establish new readers.
  • Be aware of social media trends and keep our platforms up to date for our audience. 
  • Be aware of our social media’s peak times and when to best publish stories.
  • Find new ideas on how to constantly improve the Villager’s social media.
  • Plan an early-semester promotional event for the Villager and create promotional digital and non-digital items that:
    • Encourage participation in the Villager.
    • Drive readership to the Website and social media accounts.

The marketing/social media manager will be responsible for the day-to-day posts on social media channels. This position is the original brand ambassador for all things Villager and should adhere to all ethical guidelines.

DIGITAL REPORTER/HOST: The digital reporter/host will serve as the face and/or voice of Villager video and audio content. These can include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Video news packages
  • Video sports packages
  • Video features packages
  • Audio news stories
  • Podcast episodes

The digital reporter/host will be a part of the editorial team that meets weekly to determine coming content for the Villager. They also will work closely with the Multimedia/Digital Editor in the field and in the studio to make sure all video and audio products are cleanly edited and meet professional standards.

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