Description

Ready to work with some of the best reporters in Nashville?

WPLN News is looking for an afternoon news editor who’s eager to edit daily and enterprising work from a newsroom that takes pride in connecting the dots for a growing region. You’ll also oversee a diverse team of talented reporters, helping them develop their beats, manage a mix of daily and long-range stories, and master the fine skills of radio reporting.

To excel in this position, you’ll need to be intellectually curious, culturally competent and able to de-bunk wonkiness. You’ll also need to be a teacher and coach — ready to pass along your knowledge or to stand back and let reporters go it alone as the situation warrants.

What you’ll do:

• Edit daily stories for accuracy, clarity and context; you will be the primary editor for afternoon newscasts. Ideally, your day will start at 9 a.m. and end around 6 p.m. But, in some cases this schedule may be modified if necessary.

• Edit and develop enterprising stories — some from your direct reports, some from other reporters. You’ll help turn kernels of ideas into important, narrative-driven reporting.

• Oversee and support a team of 3-5 reporters. This means you’ll have weekly one-on-ones with each direct report and help them develop and shape their beats.

• Stay in near-constant communication with the other editors and regularly work with reporters to appear on our midday show, This Is Nashville.

• Serve as a newsroom leader, including participating in key coverage decisions, implementing strategies and planning over the long term. You’ll have a seat at the table.

• Serve as a station ambassador, such as participating in community engagement events and striving to build relationships with communities that we’ve underserved.

• Foster a positive workplace culture.

Why Nashville?

With 2 million people in the urban area and 700,000 in the city alone, Nashville is not a small town. But it often feels that way. It will not be unusual for you to run into the people you cover out in the community, which is both a blessing and a curse. You will have plenty of opportunities to get to know them, and they will hold you accountable for your work. That said, you can expect a community that will be in your corner. Nashville Public Radio has a track record of producing tough-yet-fair journalism, and our audience is sophisticated enough to respect that work.

Outside your job, you should know that there is plenty more to Nashville than honky tonks and cowboy hats (though those things can be fun too!). Nashville is home to thriving immigrant communities, including the world’s largest Kurdish community outside the Middle East, and about one in four Nashville residents is Black. The city is home to several universities, including four HBCUs, and it boasts thriving theater, visual arts and music scenes across all genres. Plus, it’s a good place to raise a family.

What’s WPLN News?

WPLN News is the newsroom of Nashville Public Radio, a community-licensed, nonprofit news outlet that strives to cover our region with context, courage and respect. We aim to hold officials accountable and serve audiences that are often underrepresented in positions of power, including people of color, immigrants and those in the working class.

Within the newsroom, our collaborative and diverse team works together to help every journalist realize their potential on the job, while also giving them space to live a full life outside of it. We strive to perform at the highest level: Since 2019, our newsroom has received a Peabody, a National Murrow Award and a Pulitzer finalist nod, as well as the Daniel Schorr Prize for the best public media journalist under 35. We currently have formal collaborations with the New York Times’ Serial, KFF Health News, ProPublica and Nashville Noticias, as well as being a leading newsroom within NPR’s Southern bureau.

Requirements

  To apply, please click here  and upload the following to our portal by June 30, 2023

• Cover letter. Tell us why you’re interested in joining Nashville Public Radio and, using the prompts below, explain why you’d make a great editor and manager. Submit your letter as a PDF.

• Clips. Please provide links to 4 examples of your work, including at least 2 on which you were the primary editor. These do not have to be audio stories. Please explain your role in each and submit your clips as a single PDF.

• Resume. Please keep it to no more than two pages and submit it as a PDF. No need to send your references yet — we’ll ask that of finalists.

Our search committee will evaluate your cover letter, clips and resume on the following criteria:

• Writing and editing. Don’t give your cover letter short shrift or send a form letter. This is a job for people who are eager to join our newsroom and have a way with words.

• Leadership. Editing is not just about moving words around. It’s about understanding personalities, developing talent and having patience as people challenge themselves to grow. You don’t have to have been a manager before, but you do need to have been a leader. How have you lifted up your colleagues throughout your career?

• Collaboration. We highly value teamwork. Through your career, have you been able to work with people in other parts of the newsroom and in other departments? Tell us how.

• Commitment to equity. Do you seek out thoughtful stories about groups that are typically underrepresented in media and politically?

• Ability to think enterprisingly. You’ll be working with a team of busy reporters, and a big part of your job will be helping them see beyond what’s immediately before them.

After rating each application, our search committee will choose a set of finalists to interview. Finalists may be asked to complete a brief editing exercise. If you do not make it to the finalist round, we will alert you by email as promptly as possible.

Physical Demands

The employee in this position is frequently standing, walking, or sitting; using hands to finger, handle, or feel; reaching with hands and arms, and talking or hearing.

Lifts Weight or Exerts Force Work Environment

The employee in this position may regularly lift up to 20 pounds.

Vision

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Salary Information

$68,000+ (Negotiable based on experience)

About Nashville Public Radio

Nashville Public Radio serves Middle Tennessee by providing trusted in-depth news, engaging music, and unique cultural programs on 90.3 FM WPLN News, WNXP, Nashville Classical Radio, and our various digital platforms. For more than 60 years, listeners have turned to this community supported service for programming that inspires conversation and curiosity, educates, and entertains. Our values are

• To operate the station at the highest level of professional standards and integrity.
• To be responsive to our listeners, members, supporters, and public.
• To exhibit mutual respect for our peers and audience.
• To value the member and community support that our station receives.
• To work together in an environment that encourages participation and sharing of the decisions that affect the station and our listeners.

WPLN News is the newsroom of Nashville Public Radio, a community-licensed, nonprofit news outlet that strives to cover our region with context, courage and respect. We aim to hold officials accountable and serve audiences that are often underrepresented in positions of power, including people of color, immigrants and those in the working class.

Within the newsroom, our collaborative and diverse team works together to help every journalist realize their potential on the job, while also giving them space to live a full life outside of it. We strive to perform at the highest level: Since 2019, our newsroom has received a Peabody, a national Murrow Award and a Pulitzer finalist nod, as well as the Daniel Schorr Prize for the best public media journalist under 35. And we have ongoing collaborations with outside organizations, including ProPublica, Serial and the local Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias, to expand the reach and scope of our journalism.

Nashville Public Radio is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusivity in our hiring. Nashville Public Radio is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a protected veteran. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.

Nashville Public Radio offers a generous benefit package including medical, vision, dental, and an robust Employee Assistance Program inclusive of six free sessions of counseling each year and basic legal assistance. Long-term disability and life insurance are provided at no cost to employees. We also have up to 40 days of paid parental or medical leave, inclusive for adoptive and/or foster parents.

In addition to these benefits, employees receive vacation and sick leave, access to a 401(k) plan with employer matching, and 13 paid holidays, 2 of which are floating to employee preference.

The job profile is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, and/or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.