Pendulum hiring for several positions

The Pendulum invites you to join its award-winning news organization for the 2014 calendar year. Applications are now available and should be turned in at The Pendulum office (third floor of the Elon Town Center) by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20.

DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION. All positions are open, and if you have any questions, send an email to incoming editor-in-chief Jonathan Black at jblack10@elon.edu for more information about applications, positions or other ways to get involved.

The full list of positions are:

• News Editor
• Assistant News Editor
• Opinions Editor
• Assistant Opinions Editor
• Features Editor
• Arts & Entertainment Editor
• Sports Editor
• Assistant Sports Editor
• International Editor
• Social Media Editor
• Web Editor
• Multimedia Editor*
• Editor of The Edge
• Design Editor*
• Copy Editor*
• Senior Reporter*
• Staff Photographer*
• Multimedia Reporter*
• Public Relations Director
• Public Relations Representative*
• Business Manager
• Sales Associate*
• Advertisement Designer

* indicates more than one position is available.

Descriptions of all the positions are below:

News Editor – The news editors should be familiar with the Elon community and develop a beat system for senior reporters covering local and campus news (including, but not limited to: crime, Elon University administration, SGA and Town of Elon). The editor should stay abreast of all events on campus and be aware of regional, national and international events that would be of interest to the Elon community. He or she is required to coordinate the coverage of any breaking news situations in or around campus. The editor will work alongside senior reporters and hold a weekly meeting (scheduled at their discretion) to meet with all members of the news team to coordinate coverage and discuss previous and upcoming content. News editor has five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Assistant News Editor – This editor is responsible for assisting the co news-editors with covering the Elon campus and community. They are expected to cover an assigned beat, including writing every week, while also remaining knowledgeable about the Elon community. his editor will also coordinate coverage of all campus and community events (excluding artistic displays and performances), including assigning stories to reporters, editing stories and then posting them to The Pendulum’s website within 12 hours of the event. This editor is expected to assist in leading a weekly meeting for the news team, budgeting pages Sunday afternoon and editing stories, as requested by news editors. The assistant news editor will attend production night for two hours to help the news editors make changes to stories, search for relevant photos and assist in other small tasks as needed. He or she also has two office hours a week.

Opinions Editor – This editor is responsible for columns, editorials, letters to the editor and cartoons. The editor should know the issues being debated on campus and on broader levels and should encourage the community to debate new issues. At least two of three published columns in the print edition should relate directly back to the Elon University campus and community. The unsigned staff editorial (written by either the section editor or staff member) should strive to accurately reflect the opinion of The Pendulum and every effort should be made to secure the input from the entire staff. The section editor will lead a discussion at a weekly editorial board meeting regarding the topic, tone and goal of the staff editorial, followed by a short pitch at budget that relays the topic to the entire staff. They should also be in continual contact with the news editor to ensure the content of the two sections is complementary, when applicable and necessary. The opinion editor has five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Assistant Opinions Editor – This editor is responsible for assisting the opinions editor in writing, editing and publishing columns and letters to the editor. The assistant opinions editor is required to write one column a week, or serve as the author for that week’s unsigned staff editorial. He or she can coordinate with the opinions editor regarding who will write the unsigned editorial on a week-to-week basis. The assistant opinions editor will also help brainstorm topics for columns, which will get sent out to columnists on the Moodle listserv. He or she will assist in editing these pieces. The assistant opinions editor will attend production night for two hours to help the opinions editor make changes to columns, search for relevant photos and assist in other small tasks as needed. He or she will act as one of five Pendulum staff members on the editorial board and will be asked to help pitch and decide on the staff editorial for the week. He or she has two office hours a week.

Features Editor – This editor covers national trends, personality profiles of Elon campus and community members and other issues of interest to college students. They should stay abreast of unique and noteworthy people, events and places. Emphasis should also be placed on creative images, design and multimedia to ensure the section is filled with both colorful language and art. While top-fives, columns and reviews are an essential aspect of features, they should not carry the section. This editor should work closely with senior reporters to cover events and also communicate frequently with the Arts & Entertainment Editor to ensure the style section contains unique, but complementary content. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Arts & Entertainment Editor – This editor is responsible for covering Elon cultural events, from plays to concerts. The editor should offer equal coverage to all branches of the artistic community. This section should also include coverage of regional and national trends related to the section. They should build relationships with representatives from different arts and entertainment groups on campus and strive to report on more than just the content of performances and displays, but also go behind the scenes. The section editor will work with senior reporters to cover events and also communicate frequently with the Features Editor to ensure the style section contains unique, but complementary content. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Sports Editor – This editor is responsible for covering Division I men’s and women’s athletics and club sports at Elon University. This section should also include coverage of regional and national trends related to the section. While recaps of sporting events should comprise a part of the section, emphasis should be placed always on forward-thinking coverage. Sports features should also play a prominent role within the section. It is up to this editor’s discretion to determine which sports to highlight and games to attend, however emphasis should also be placed on live tweeting, blogging and additional coverage at major events. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Assistant Sports Editor – This editor is responsible for assisting the sports editor in coverage of sporting events and other athletic news at Elon. They are responsible for writing at least one story per week for the section and picking up more stories as needed. They are required to compile seven to eight sports briefs per week, assist the sports editor in editing reporters’ work, as needed and help budget pages Sunday afternoon. They are also expected to compile results and prepare a schedule for upcoming events, as requested by the sports editor. The assistant sports editor will attend production night for two hours to help the sports editor make changes to stories, search for relevant photos and assist in other small tasks as needed. He or she has a required two office hours a week.

International Editor – This editor is responsible for coordinating with a team of international reporters as well as international students on campus for news related to the international community. International reporters should be encouraged to write articles and blog posts both about world events happening in their respective location, as well as their personal experiences abroad. Domestic coverage should focus on international students, faculty and staff currently studying or working at Elon and news related to the study abroad and other international programs. Within each story or blog post, emphasis should always be placed on the “Elon connection” or what makes the story significant or noteworthy to the Elon community. This editor is responsible for contacting representatives from the study abroad office to reach out to students planning to go abroad each semester, as well as staying in constant contact with these students over the course of the semester. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Social Media Editor – Ensure that blogs (news, style, opinions, sports, international, photo) are updated regularly; explore other options for blogs meeting specific interests of Elon community outside normal coverage of The Pendulum; ensure all blogs maintain a similar design, structure, etc. and reflect the print edition. The editor will create a friendly, conversational tone through social media sites that encourages participation and interaction with audience; respond promptly to questions, comments, concerns posted on social media. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Web Editor – Managing the website: ensuring stories from the print edition are posted by 5 p.m. Wednesday evening; working with section editors to update website regularly throughout the week; determining front page and main stories; cleaning up stories online and troubleshooting website problems. The editor will make sure breaking news is posted to the website immediately and communicate with section editors and reporters working on breaking news. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Multimedia Editor – Give final approval on all segment topics, interviewees, scripts, copy, etc. created by the Multimedia Reporters and Interns. Determine length, number of segments, style of segment, etc. for each episode. Ensure content is unique, yet complementary to the print edition. The editor will meet with multimedia reporters once a week and assist in brainstorming and developing content. He or she has a required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Editor of The Edge – The Edge will be published once mid-semester and once at the end of the semester. It is this editor’s responsibility to determine the content of each section and coordinate section editors, reporters, photographers, designers, etc. for the Edge and schedule and lead a weekly meeting for this team. He or she is required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Design Editor* – As a design editor, you would have five office hours a week as it is a paid position. In addition you would be at our Sunday afternoon and Monday night production – doing most of your work then.  And, as mentioned above, you would be at our staff meetings on Wednesday night. Design editors layout the pages of the paper, maintain our specific style guide (which you would learn), design graphics and generally help put the paper together. They are required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Copy Editor* – Complete the initial copy editing of all stories before turning them in for layout and page design. Copy editors will be present on production nights for editing spelling, grammar, accuracy, AP style and basic news values.  They are required five office hours a week. This is a paid position.

Senior Reporter* – Pick up at least one story a week (two, if news reporter). If assigned a weekly beat, then the article they write for that beat will count as the one story. But if assigned a beat (such as Town of Elon meetings) and there is no meeting on a particular week, senior reporters are required to pick up another story to fill the once-a-week article quota. They should turn in stories by deadline, unless there are extenuating circumstances that have been relayed to both news editors and cover breaking news when it occurs. They are required two office hours a week.

Staff Photographer * – Staff photographers should take on weekly assignments, as directed by the photo editor, edit and place photos on the server with names and cutlines by 3 p.m. on Sunday. They are required two office hours a week.

Multimedia Reporter* – Produce weekly multimedia content for The Pendulum Online (at least one video per week) and assist with daily updates to the website. They should work alongside print reporters to create multimedia content that is both unique and complementary to the print version of a story. They are required two office hours a week.

Public Relations Director – He or she should be confident in leading a group of students. The Director delegates PR tasks including board storming, creating media boards, and developing events to be held for The Pendulum.  He or she is required two office hours a week.

Public Relations Representative* – They should be comfortable and have strong intrapersonal skills. The position is much less about designing brochures, media boards, etc. and much more about personal interactions. They’re visiting classrooms and designing campaigns to get the word out about The Pendulum. They are required two office hours a week.

Business Manager – He or she should sell ads, bill customers, ensure there is sufficient ad content in each issue to cover cost and make sure all ads are scanned and saved correctly. Managers should be comfortable leading a team of sales associates and maintain an organized system of recording client information. They are required three office hours a week. This position is paid by commission.

Sales Associate* – Sales associates must be personable, self-motivated and preferably have access to a vehicle. They are expected to travel into Burlington and other local areas to speak with local businesses and form advertising contracts. They are required three office hours a week. This position is paid by commission.

Advertisement Designer – The advertisement designer is responsible for crafting external and in-house advertisements to be published either in print or online. The ad designer will pull from submitted information to design advertisements to the satisfaction of the customer or Editor-in-Chief. They are required three office hours a week. This position is paid.