Job Description
WTAJ-TV has an opening for a dynamic News Director with the talent and energy to lead our News Department. This is a strong news market with Penn State University located right here. Applicants must have at least three years of news management experience and have a proven track record of running a winning day-to-day news operation in a competitive market. We want someone with superior team building and communication along with great news judgment. Bring that winning spirit and innovative concepts for our multiple platforms. The right person will be a creative thinker that can draw an audience with new ideas and inspire our team to new heights.
The News Director leads and supervises all aspects of news, weather, and sports programming as well as Digital Content.
- Manages all aspects of the News Department (other than Production)
- Plans and manages staffing, training, and performance evaluations for the News Department.
- Makes decisions regarding hiring, evaluation, promotion and termination of employees.
- Develops news coverage strategy for the station and its digital platforms.
- Critiques newscasts daily to correct errors, improve coverage and provide mentoring feedback to news staff.
- Assigns projects to staff and verifies that deadlines are being communicated and met.
- Ensures achievement of viewership goals.
- Determines programming and evaluation of equipment needs to produce quality programming.
- Responds to coverage questions.
- Works with other senior station leaders to establish and reach station goals.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Requirements & Skills:
- Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.
- Fluency in English.
- Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
- Minimum three years in news management.
- Experience guiding, directing and motivating subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
- Experience establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
- Ability to identify the developmental needs of others and to coach, mentor or otherwise help others to improve their knowledge or skills.
- Experience preparing and maintaining departmental budgets.
- Proficiency with computers, telephones, copiers, scanners, and other office equipment.
- Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize assignments and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
- Ability to effectively listen to fully understand employee needs and communicate with a team to shape a solution.