News Manager, Breaking News, Newsday.com

Long Island

Steve Safran November 8th, 2006

The news manager is an intensely hands-on player who updates Newsday.com throughout the early evening, 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 news manager must also write sharp headlines and summaries and perform basic copyediting. The news manager keeps fresh content flowing into the site by coordinating with reporters, editors, and others.

The news manager will also work closely with our newspaper staff to incorporate stories, multimedia and reader-generated content like blogs and social networks in a powerful, integrated package. We are seeking an experienced journalist with good project management skills and a demonstrated track record help direct the effort.

The 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.

The ideal candidate has previous experience working in online publishing, a mixture of graphic design, web programming and traditional communications abilities and be comfortable producing in a fast-paced, breaking news environment.

Working early evenings (1 p.m. – 9 p.m., Tuesday – Friday 4 p.m. – Midnight, Saturday) as part of a team in the Melville, Long Island office, the 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 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
• Act as a liaison between Newsday.com and the news desks
• Produces multimedia and value added content, including audio, video and Flash
• Coordinates with newsroom on daily flow of breaking news and builds special packages for major breaking news events
• 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 3-5 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
• Solid copyediting and writing skills

Contact: Jonathan McCarthy

Jonathan.mccarthy@newsday.com