Audio Intern

Description McClatchy’s Central Audio Department is responsible for helping with the development and growth of our newsroom podcasts and smart speaker products. Overseen by the Director of Audio (Davin Coburn), and including a full-time Audio Producer, Local Impact (Kata Stevens), the department focuses largely on locally essential content, consulting on and at times directly producing and editing an expanding network of exciting audio products from McClatchy’s 30 newsrooms around the country. This includes higher-level vetting of show ideas, streamlining production workflows, and determining best practices for growth strategies and show promotion. The work in this department requires a belief in the mission and power of local journalism, and critical thinking with great news instincts. To succeed, we leverage our experience creating high-quality audio stories on deadline, an eagerness to impart those lessons learned to newsroom collaborators with a range of audio experience, and the ability to thrive in a start-up-type environment. Examples of the types of shows we help our newsrooms create include Sports Legends of the Carolinas, Under the Dome, and The Greg Cote Show. OVERVIEW OF ASSIGNMENT: We anticipate the intern in this role will work most closely with the Director of Audio. We will help expand her skill set in analysis of successful content and show performance; best practices for ongoing promotional efforts; identifying archival elements to improve episode content; and training in editing both audio products and text elements. This intern’s responsibilities are likely to include: Analysis of best practices for promotion of our ongoing newsroom podcasts, including the potential for social content creation to aid in those efforts; Researching and sleuthing out relevant archival audio and / or video on the internet for inclusion in podcast episodes; Monitoring the performance of our newsroom shows via show analytics, and recommending improvements to the content; Light editing (of audio in the Adobe Audition software, and text for podcast scripts, via Google Docs), as well as copy editing and assisting with writing podcast episode descriptions SKILLS DESIRED: Desired skills for this role include: Strong communication skills, even in remote work environments; Experience conceiving compelling news and topic-driven audio products; An intuitive sense of what’s important and interesting to local and niche podcast consumers; An ability to help edit audio, and to write scripts with the listener in mind; Strong news judgment and excellent journalism ethics; Effective time management skills with the ability to multitask; A self-starter with high energy and a collaborative style; A commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts