Urban Unrest

20 December 2006 | Opportunities | Ernesto Aguilar

WORT-FM Community Radio (an AA/EOE employer) seeks a Permanent News & Public Affairs Facilitator. This is a full-time position, responsible to the Board of Directors.

Title: News and Public Affairs Facilitator
Position: Full-time, responsible to the Board of Directors

Goal:
Primarily an off-air position to facilitate approximately 115 on-air volunteer news and public affairs programmers working to develop a multitude of strong, clear voices in alternative media. WORT, a non-profit community radio station, has an ambitious program of 15 locally produced news and talk shows including three daily programs (an upbeat morning drive show, a midday hour-long interview and call-in show, and a half-hour local evening news show) and several weekly news, public affairs, and special interest shows, including Third World View, Her Turn, Hmong Radio, an Arab-American show, the Access Hour, a Spanish language news program, Radio Literature, an LGBT show, a science show, Health Writers on the Air, and Labor Radio. The station also airs Democracy Now, BBC News, and other national programs.

Major Duties:

1. Recruit, coordinate, evaluate, and manage volunteer news and public affairs programmers and interns following WORT’s policies. Teach skills to volunteers with widely varying skills and abilities including fair and accurate community-based reporting, digital editing & production, on-air delivery and engineering.

2. Oversee recommendations to the Board of Directors and Programming Committee regarding the acquisition, downloading, and airing of satellite and other pre-produced programming.

3. Assist development staff in pledge drives and other fundraising projects, as necessary.

4. Serve as a member of the Programming Committee. The Committee makes all decisions, subject to approval by the Board of Directors, regarding new programming or major programming changes.

5. Ensure FCC and other legal compliance in the spirit of fairness and accuracy.

6. Ensure staffing of all news and public affairs shows, Sunday through Friday.

7. Work closely in a cooperative environment with other staff members.

8. Inform volunteers about awards and honor deadlines.

9. Other tasks as determined by the Board of Directors.

Qualifications:
Must have demonstrated knowledge and experience writing and producing news and public affairs, and a working knowledge of local, state, national and international current events and cultures. Must be committed to community radio and to maintaining people’s access to the airwaves. Preference will be given to candidates with journalism backgrounds and familiarity with radio production and community radio programming format. Must be willing to work with a broad range of volunteers with diverse abilities and interests. Must be familiar with mass communication law as it applies to radio or be willing to attend appropriate courses. Must be available to oversee staffing of all news air shifts. Must be available to attend evening news meetings, currently on Monday evening. Must have strong computer skills. Must be willing to serve on the WORT Board of Directors if elected by the staff collective. Experience in a cooperative working environment preferred.

The position requires a strong leader who can build consensus rather than issuing orders, and a team player who can participate fully in building a mature cooperative organization.

Salary:
$25,000/year, plus health, dental, & disability insurance and a generous leave package.

Application Process:
Contact the station at 608-256-2001 during business hours to have an application packet sent to you. Then return your completed application by February 1, 2007 to:

News Facilitator Hiring Committee
WORT-FM
118 S. Bedford Street
Madison, WI 53703

If you have any questions, contact Norm Stockwell or Glenn Mitroff at the station at 608-256-2001.

To ensure consideration, all application materials must be received by 5:00pm Thursday, February 1st, 2007.

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