Applications sought for NewsTrain project manager

Job description

The Associated Press Media Editors seeks a project manager for its signature NewsTrain Project.

NewsTrain provides regional training workshops for news leaders, especially frontline editors who are leading rapidly changing digitally focused newsrooms. NewsTrain has provided leadership and journalism skills training to more than 6,000 frontline editors in the United States and Canada since its inception almost 11 years ago.

The project manager plans and produces NewsTrain training workshops for the APME in locations throughout the United States and Canada. This is an independent contract position that reports to a committee of the APME board. The position is funded through grants and donations secured annually by the board for the following year. The initial term is for one year, with renewal dependent upon funding.

Responsibilities:

1. Plan and produce workshops based on the NewsTrain process/model. This includes:·

-- Selecting sites and workshop dates (currently up to four a year);
-- Assembling and leading a planning committee at each site;
-- Holding a planning meeting at each site to create the program, plan logistics and divvy up tasks;
-- Recruiting and coaching faculty members on their seminar material;
-- Building an agenda that meets the stated needs of the planning group and can be effectively run in the available room space;
-- Supervising and working with the NewsTrain program assistant (another contract position), to ensure the timely and accurate completion of logistical, financial and administrative tasks;
-- Managing workshop registration on the APME website; and
-- Running the workshops successfully (in person) for hosts, faculty or participants.

2. Work with the APME board committee to select workshop sites.

3. Conduct workshops within a process/model that has been approved by funders and donors and is overseen by a committee of the APME board.

4. Collect and evaluate feedback from participants and hosts after each workshop. Strive to continually improve or adapt workshops to the changing needs of the industry.

5. Manage the NewsTrain portion of the APME website.

6. Attend APME board meetings and report to the APME board about each workshop.

7. Contribute information for reports that the APME board committee prepares for funders.

Qualifications:
The successful candidate will be a seasoned newsroom veteran with 10+ years of experience, and experience operating successful newsroom training programs. Must be able to work independently and flexibly; demonstrate an understanding of the learning needs of newsrooms; demonstrate an understanding of how to create effective training seminars; manage oversight of the program overall; manage every content and logistical aspect of each workshop; travel to sites around North America; and work within a budget.

How to Apply:
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume detailing credentials, qualifications and experience to apme@ap.org.  

Deadline for applications is Jan. 15, 2014

Applications sought for journalism fellowship on resilience and recovery

   Stories about natural and manmade disasters have become, sadly, an all-too-familiar element of the news. While there is ample coverage of them while the disaster is unfolding — Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, mass shootings, and the Gulf oil spill are just a few examples — in most cases coverage fades when the immediate disaster is past.

   With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, which has a long-standing commitment to support work on the issue of resilience, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research will sponsor a 9-month fellowship in which a journalist will receive special training and a significant opportunity to do high-impact journalism on issues related to economic, psychological, and social resilience.

   The fellowship is designed to provide time to explore community resilience in all its forms. The daily workflow of most newsrooms often prevents reporters from taking the time they need to acquire the skills and background needed to synthesize and interpret the scope of the story, how it ties one community to another, and what might be learned so that policy makers can take action.

   In addition, there is a wealth of cutting edge information about resilience and recovery that is being collected and analyzed at research institutions around the world on resilience and its definition and measurement that is never delivered into the public domain. Journalists too often lack the time and the tools to uncover these sources for stories that illuminate what is known about resilience.

   The AP-NORC Journalism Fellowship on Resilience and Recovery will train a person in the skills needed to do research-based enterprise journalism about community resilience in all its forms. The fellowship will have an impact that will reach far beyond the fellowship term.

   The journalist will return to the newsroom with new skills and background to continue to report on resilience and recovery issues, and share that knowledge with colleagues. It is anticipated that over time other journalists will receive the same training, leading to a cadre of experts skilled in the use of research to tell some of the most important stories of the day.

For more information and application material, go to: http://www.apnorc.org/projects/Pages/The%20AP-NORC%20Fellowship/the-ap-norc-center-fellowship.aspx