Job Description
HCAM News Director
The position of News Director (ND) is to gather and disseminate information on activities and events of interest to the residents of Hopkinton.
Responsibilities include:
- Information gathering. The ND maintains contacts with individuals and organizations that hold events and activities of interest and concern to Hopkinton. The ND monitors news feeds, calendars and websites, and maintains regular communications with news-makers in Hopkinton.
- Reporting. The ND attends events and meetings and records raw footage and interviews. The ND presents all sides of controversial topics fairly and completely. The ND provides balanced coverage of all aspects of life in Hopkinton; schools and sports, government, business, and community.
- News Dissemination. The ND is responsible for circulating all of the information gathered in items 1 and 2. This is accomplished via our TV channels, websites, facebook page, twitter feed, email list-serves, online calendars, and other mediums as applicable.
Skills Required:
- People skills. The ND creates and maintains good working relations with the residents of Hopkinton, and represents HCAM in a positive, professional manner.
- Time Management Skills. The ND is organized, ensuring that news items presented throughout our media are timely, relevant, and useful.
- Production Skills. The ND has basic camera skills such as composition and managing audio, as well as rudimentary video editing capabilities.
Information Overlap:
The News Director is a position that touches upon all aspects of life in Hopkinton, and intersects most of the other positions at HCAM. As a community TV station, the staff and volunteers of HCAM constantly have video, bulletins, and other town info flow through their positions. The News Director accesses these streams of media to help constitute a vibrant, well-informed newscast and other media elements under the control of the ND.
Production Requirements:
The News Director anchors a weekly newscast, “HCAM News”. This half-hour program feature all timely informational elements gathered by the ND from all available sources.
The ND also produces 1-2 episodes per week of a half-hour interview show called “HCAM Newsmakers”.
The ND records events and interviews on location, and edits together segments to be rolled in for the “HCAM News” program. The level of editing required is basic, cuts-only. The ND also clips portions of other recorded media to use for roll-ins for the newscast.
Operational Support:
The News Director has access to media from all corners of HCAM: Raw and edited footage of current events, bulletin messages, etc.
The ND is supported by HCAM staff in the production (including editing) of all half-hour programs produced in studio. This assistance is also provided as required in the production of any in studio, phone, or skype interviews to be used for “HCAM News”.
Hours:
The position of News Director is full-time, 40 hours per week. The schedule varies as required by the various events and activities that occur. Days may be 9-5, 3-11, split shifts, or weekends. It is expected that the ND will work five, eight-hour days.
Requirements:
1) College degree in journalism, broadcast journalism or related.
2) Prior reporting and writing experience.
To apply, send letter of interest and resume to: jim@hcam.tv
