Editor - Kimberley Verfied

Salary Negotiable Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley, Northern Cape more than 14 days ago 18-04-2018 8:26:46 AM
13-06-2018 8:26:46 AM
EDITOR

The Solomon Star is a recently launched Kimberley based weekly community newspaper established to address the fact that existing print media at local and regional level often fail to give fair and equitable coverage of newsworthy stories that appeal to all sectors of our society. The publishers of the Solomon Star aim to counter this by providing a more interactive and immersive media experience through both the print edition of the newspaper and through its website and its Facebook and Twitter pages.

The publisher is looking to secure the services of an Editor who will be able to ensure that the Solomon Star provides news coverage and reporting that is not narrow, parochial and self-serving but instead is accessible, inclusive, and embraces all facets of news that will resonate with the population at large. In so doing, the newspaper will meet its objective to provide empowering access to up to date information on topical news items, particularly to those that continue to live largely in an information vacuum because of the fact that they are economically disadvantaged.

The Editor will be expected to embrace this vision for the Solomon Star and will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of the newspaper, making sure that the production process runs smoothly and that the publication is distributed timeously to its readers.

The Editor’s primary responsibility is for the style and content of the print and digital editions of the publication and ensuring consistency with the its editorial policy. He/she will also be responsible for:
• Developing content ideas and assigning stories to writers
• Reading content submissions, editing for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Rewriting copy to make it easy for readers to understand
• Verifying factual content using standard reference sources
• Evaluating submissions from writers to decide what to publish
• Finalising layout
• Reviewing and editing digital media content
• Growing the geographic footprint of the newspaper
• Managing staff responsible for content, sales and marketing, distribution and finance and administration

The successful applicant will ideally have a tertiary qualification in journalism, media or communications or in arts and humanities (in particular English) with 5 years or more work experience either in the print media or in a related occupation. Given that he/she will also be responsible for the online version of the newspaper and its social media feeds, a background in web content and technical knowledge will be beneficial.

Candidates for this position must also be able to demonstrate: creativity, in order to generate interesting story lines and attention grabbing headlines; general knowledge on a broad range of contemporary and newsworthy subjects; good judgement to be able to decide if certain stories are ethical or if there is enough evidence to report them; excellent language and writing skills to ensure that articles appearing in the publication are expressed clearly and logically and are grammatically correct; a sharp eye for detail to make sure that material is error-free and matches the style of the publication; and good leadership and interpersonal skills so as to be able to effectively manage the editorial and production teams.