Sports producer, Alabama Media Group

Alabama Media Group is searching for a versatile reporter, who will help lead coverage of Alabama and Auburn football recruiting as well as University of South Alabama athletics.

The job will be based in Mobile, Ala.

You will report and produce stories for various platforms, and act as a statewide expert and discussion leader on those topics. You’ll need to break news and beat all competitors and provide depth and engagement. It will be essential that you take ownership of your beats, collaborating with others to provide year-round football coverage. The reality of news in the digital age is that it is instant. In order to hit your goals and responsibilities, you’ll approach all of your work with that in mind.

Specifically, you will:
• Gather information and write journalistically sound news elements for use in all existing and future media platforms. Your stories should be balanced and factual; timely and topical; and, well-sourced and contextually correct. Learn and employ all techniques for effective digital “beat-blogging” and reporting across all platforms.
• Frequently and incrementally post throughout the day.
• Engage in story aggregation and topical link-posting.
• Monitor and engage in reader comment streams; elevate comments into new posts when appropriate.
• Interact on social media platforms via story shares, objective commentary, topic promotion and the Alabama Media Group’s content initiatives.
• Effectively employ various means of monitoring audience interest and competitors’ posting on your topic, including setting up Google alerts, Twitter and RSS feeds.
• Maintain operational communication with the editor and production center, when appropriate.
• Learn and understand audience traffic tracking systems and analytical reports.

The Requirements
• A bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications or related field (preferred), or a combination of education and/or experience including a strong track record of writing success.
• A minimum of two years of journalism experience with a proven ability in reporting and writing. You should be able to use a broad set of tools to tell stories and engage the audience.
• Proven experience building, maintaining and engaging an active audience.
• The ability to work independently under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately.
• Demonstrated reporting, writing and organizational skills.
• Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure.
• Experience with search engine optimization (SEO) practices.
• Comfort working in breaking news situations including understanding the standards and philosophy of real-time news.
• The demonstrated ability to capitalize on high-value topics by engaging audiences with frequency and urgency.
• Understanding of the methods and tools used to deliver content across a variety of platforms such as Moveable Type CMS, Smartphones.
• Understanding the imperatives of multiple platforms – print, mobile, Internet, etc.
• A mastery of social media and digital interaction; experience using social media to source and promote content is highly preferred.
• The ability to leverage relationships with sources to deliver content that differentiates the organization from its competitors.
• The drive and ability to work independently and remotely.
• The ability to work a flexible schedule, as needed, to provide 24/7/365 media coverage.
• The ability to travel on occasion and to come into the office for a meeting or training approximately once per month.

In addition to these requirements, you should have strong computer skills and the ability to take compelling photographs or video. You'll need to understand and use hardware, software, and cloud-based equipment and systems for direct-to-web production and engagement, including:
• Posting photographs and/or short videos to the web and other internal production systems.
• Remote web reporting using laptops and smart phones.
It's important to note that key stories will also appear in print.

Keys to Success
To excel in this role, you will be a driven, dynamic reporter and writer with the ability to deliver a high volume of content every day. You'll need to know college football, statistics, some history, and methods of traditional beat reporting. You should be able to proactively identify stories in your assigned area and respond quickly, keeping the quality of content consistent and engaging. Nothing of interest to the Auburn fanbase should be missed. Because we are an online, daily operation, you will also need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. You should be someone who excels and thrives under pressure and can produce quality work regardless of the deadline you're under.

Additionally, in order to be an outstanding sports producer, you will be autonomous and enjoy working independently. You will have a great deal of autonomy in this role, from choosing your content topics to posting your own articles online — so you should be at ease in a self-directed environment and eager to hit the ground running and make an impact right off the bat.

Qualified candidates should send a resume and cover letter, which details experience, along with links to your best content and examples of your multimedia work to igould@al.com. Please reference the position title in the subject heading of the email.

Alabama Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, physical or mental impairment, or any other category protected under federal, state or local law.

 

Who does this replace? What happened to him/her?

 

I believe it was Mike Herndon's job. He said on Twitter he was taking a PR job. I know he was based in Mobile but I don't know exactly what his job title was.

 

Mike Herndon held this job previously but made the wise decision to get into PR. I'd say more but it would be counterproductive.

 

I should add that the sports content department has been better lately.

 

Thanks for the kind words, spadjo martin. Mike was a true pro and will be missed.

 

Lots of job security (not).

 

what is the status of this position?