Hearst Communications - San Francisco, CA
posted 5 months ago
About the position
The San Francisco Chronicle is seeking a collaborative, creative, and detail-oriented Visuals Editor for Archive and Licensing. This part-time position, requiring three days a week in the Chronicle office, offers a unique opportunity to manage a rich photo archive that spans over 150 years of stunning historic photos. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in shaping and supporting the newsroom's visual coverage by producing compelling quick-turn photo essays based on breaking news while also balancing longer-term projects. The Archive and Licensing Visual Editor will primarily focus on working with archival material, licensing the work of photojournalists, and editing contemporary photography. Responsibilities include vetting and responding to external licensing requests, facilitating newsroom archive requests for daily and enterprise stories, and updating and maintaining archiving standards and systems. The editor will also scan, tone, and archive photos with proper metadata, pitch and build visual-first narratives from both archives and current photography, and write accompanying copy blocks and short stories for visual essays. In addition to curating the photos of the month feature and managing the Smugmug online photo store, the editor will assist with picture editing for online, print, and social media, lead the photo team's Instagram account, and keep internal systems updated with necessary corrections. The role also involves uploading relevant archival content to AP and Getty partners and assisting the Video Editor with licensing multimedia content. The editor will be expected to generate daily and long-term story ideas, contributing to the Chronicle's dynamic visual storytelling.
Responsibilities
- Vet and respond to external licensing requests
- Facilitate newsroom archive requests for daily and enterprise stories
- Update and maintain archiving standards and system
- Scan, tone, and archive photos with proper metadata
- Pitch and build visual-first narratives from our archives and current photography
- Write copy blocks and short stories to accompany visual essays
- Curate our photos of the month feature
- Curate Smugmug online photo store
- Assist with picture editing for online, print, and social media
- Lead our photo team's Instagram account
- Keep internal systems Merlin and WCM updated with AP Kills and caption corrections
- Send PDFs to the Library of Congress
- Upload relevant/newsworthy archival content to AP and Getty partners
- Assist Video Editor with licensing multimedia content
- Generate daily and long-term story ideas
Requirements
- A minimum of 2 years of photography experience with news organizations
- Bachelor's degree in journalism, photography, video or a related field
- An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted
- Strong online portfolio showcasing photo editing experience
- Smart news judgment and story pitches
- Knowledge of journalism law and ethics, as well as photography copyright
- Ability to write clean, accurate captions and metadata
- Experience in content authentication is preferred
- Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with all levels of the newsroom
- Understanding of social media to effectively promote SFC photojournalism
- Working knowledge of photo software programs such as Photoshop, Premiere, LightRoom and Photo Mechanic
- Knowledge of the Bay Area is preferred
Nice-to-haves
- Further writing experience is preferred
- Experience in content authentication is preferred
Benefits
- Competitive salary based on experience and location
- Opportunity to work with a historic photo archive
- Collaborative work environment
- Part-time schedule with flexibility
