Asst. News Manager, Newsday.com

Long Island

Steve Safran November 8th, 2006

The assistant news manager is an intensely hands-on player who updates various channels of the Newsday.com news section throughout the day, maximizing the potential of the content created by Newsday, its sister newspaper and broadcast sites. Daily responsibilities include publishing articles, photos, polls, audio/visual and interactive content to a database-driven Web site on deadline. In addition to the technical tasks, the assistant news manager must also write sharp headlines and summaries and perform basic copyediting. The assistant news manager keeps fresh content flowing into the site by coordinating with reporters, editors, and others.

The assistant news manager streamlines all types of media gathered by reporters in the field and publishes them online in a timely manner. The news manager may, at times, be assigned to gather media. The news manager also assists in the production of longer-term multimedia projects. You must also be able to take feeds from reporters in the field, do original reporting and be able to compile news reports from other sources (i.e. TV and radio).

The job is an opportunity to be among the elite group that will lead Newsday.com, the award winning site for Newsday, the area’s leading provider of local news, information, and entertainment vital to Long Island. There will be opportunities to be trained in gathering audio for the web, podcasting and shooting and editing video.

The ideal candidate has previous some experience working in online publishing and be comfortable producing in a fast-paced, breaking news environment.

Working daily (6 a.m. – 2 p.m., Mon..-Fri.) as part of a team in the Melville, Long Island office, the assistant news manager is an independent, self-reliant worker who is a natural at multitasking, is a problem-solver by nature and is capable of producing original work as well as preparing the work of others for the Web site. The assistant news manager is focused on the end-user experience, and is expected to review site usage and analysis regularly.

Primary Role & Responsibilities

• Programs the various news pages, adding fresh news and instilling local flavor
• Train to produce multimedia and value added content, including audio, video and Flash
• Works with managers to determine traffic goals and site planning
• Packages material from newspaper and other sources into compelling online content
• Helps develop and implement a strategy for improving site design and usability to increase traffic
• Takes advantage of opportunities to engage the reader via discussion boards, blogs, etc.
• Builds, edits and sends out email alerts when required
• Answers public feedback and assists in special requests

Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and/or 1-2 years of web publishing experience preferred
• Strong HTML skills
• Experience working on a news Web site
• A successful candidate will have reliable transportation
• Experience working with video and audio for the Web, Familiarity with SoundForge, StudioDV, Final Cut Pro, Flash and PhotoShop a plus
• Solid copyediting and writing skills

Contact: Jonathan McCarthy

Jonathan.mccarthy@newsday.com