About the position
The Producer/Planner team within the Center for Community Journalism (CCJ) at Gannett plays a vital role in ensuring that high-impact local journalism reaches its maximum audience. This position is focused on supporting community newspapers and enhancing subscription bases for our publications. The CCJ is dedicated to providing timely, factual, and relevant information as a public service in local communities, with a particular emphasis on unique reporting on local topics such as food, culture, government accountability, and sports. The Producer/Planner is responsible for developing and executing publication plans that maximize audience engagement and subscription growth. This involves strategic planning and collaboration with local editors and reporters to ensure that the right content is delivered to the right audience at the right time across various platforms. In this role, the Producer/Planner specializing in Sports will work closely with multiple newsrooms, leveraging analytics to create and adjust plans in real-time. They will be tasked with brainstorming and executing digital storytelling initiatives, including the use of photos, videos, graphics, and social media content. The Producer/Planner will also manage native platform content, optimize for search, and ensure effective promotion of stories across various channels. This position requires strong news judgment and the ability to make independent decisions regarding content presentation, as well as a commitment to sharing and enhancing the work of local newsrooms within the broader USA TODAY Network. The role is remote, allowing for flexibility, but may require occasional early morning or late-night hours and weekend shifts to manage platforms and respond to breaking news. Candidates from all states except Alaska and Hawaii are encouraged to apply.
Responsibilities
- Partnering with editors on premium schedule and staying updated on best practices regarding subscriber-exclusive content.
- Maintaining digital and print content calendars via Presto Suite and determining embargo times to reach target audience.
- Managing native and off-site platforms: Scheduling and setting up Home front stories, push alerts and social media posts.
- Optimizing premium and high-potential content for search, recirculation and deeper audience engagement time.
- Enhancing content with video, galleries, SEO meta-data, hyperlinks and images.
- Writing effective digital headlines, promo briefs and breaking news alerts that help attract audiences.
- Spotting and correcting issues related to grammar, spelling, punctuation and style.
- Creating social cards via Canva for high-potential stories and scheduling them on social media platforms.
- Using Parse.ly and Google Analytics to make data-driven decisions and advise on opportunities targeting the audience funnel.
- Attending newsroom/team meetings and possibly running meetings.
- Helping newsrooms swarm breaking news and trending by suggesting (and sometimes writing) stories targeting search and social.
- Sharing content to other planners/sites and searching for content to promote on yours, including USA TODAY and sites in the regional structure.
- Enforcing workflow standards, including planning communication and deadlines.
- Maintaining a print schedule at least 5 days in advance.
- Posting daily print lineups for our Design Center partners and following operational standards for setting our design partners up for success.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or master's degree in communications, journalism, marketing, or related field preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- 3+ years' experience in a sports news or social media role.
- Proficiency in digital platforms, such as websites and apps, social media and search.
- Experience with content analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or Parse.ly is a plus.
- Experience in a deadline-driven environment.
- Strong communication skills and a willingness to collaborate is a must.
- Ability to work quickly and accurately under pressure and breaking news.
Benefits
- Remote work flexibility
- Competitive hourly rate ranging from $16.44 to $38.77
- Variable compensation based on role and performance
