Community Engagement Producer — KCUR

KCUR 89.3

Job description

KCUR seeks a curious, creative, outgoing and collaborative colleague to join our team of journalists who are engaging directly with diverse and vibrant communities throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area to ensure our journalism serves all of the region’s residents.

Our new colleague will be a crucial part of a team led by our Director of Community Engagement and our Community Engagement Editor. The team’s mission is to uncover misrepresented or ignored stories, to collaborate with communities in an effort to shape an audience-driven narrative, to bring new voices, new sounds and an authentic sense of place to our content and coverage of the Kansas City region.

The producer will work with reporters and editors in telling stories on the radio and on podcasts, online, on social media and through face-to-face conversations that enhance civic dialogue and participation. They will be involved in designing efforts that offer KCUR fresh opportunities to listen to the challenges communities are facing and partner with them to provide solutions.

Our new colleague will also work with talented and passionate journalists throughout KCUR’s newsroom, as well as with teams in multi-state collaborations including Harvest Public Media, NPR’s Midwest Newsroom and the Kansas News Service.

The goal of this work is to remove barriers and welcome communities into a news environment where they participate, gain access to information and resources that empower them to be their own best advocates. Not only are we after compelling human stories and storytelling, but we also want our partnerships, listening and reporting to address challenges and reveal solutions. This position reports to the Community Engagement Editor. 

Core responsibilities

• Expand KCUR’s relationships with community leaders, organizations and individuals representing the greater Kansas City metropolitan area’s diverse communities.
• Inform KCUR’s content by organizing and leading listening sessions and events, conducting surveys and coordinating other activities to understand the needs and desires of communities. 
• Explore and define new models for ways KCUR can engage communities.  
• Report and produce stories for KCUR’s various platforms based on community-generated ideas.
• Maintain methods for gathering feedback from communities and audiences. 
• Work with the team on systems for tracking and reporting community impact of KCUR’s content.
• Plan and produce virtual and live events, work with partners on site location, timing and tech, including recording for later broadcast.
• Collaborate with KCUR staff on the planning and execution of broader station events and KCUR’s presence at community events.
• Foster an environment of cohesiveness and collaboration across all station departments.
• Uphold the highest standards of journalistic ethics and integrity.
• Participate in KCUR’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives and incorporate station DEIB practices into day-to-day work.
• Participate in fund drives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum qualifications

A Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience and at least 3 years of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, a related field or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience that provides the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities for this job.
• Ability to work on diverse projects simultaneously in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment, and an ability and willingness to work a varied schedule.
• Demonstrated ability to take direction, work collaboratively with diverse personalities, ability to articulate and present verbally and in writing.
• Experience with community outreach or engagement initiatives, particularly engagement journalism experience.
• Audio production, editing and field recording skills.
• Familiarity with spreadsheets and databases, particularly methods for measuring journalism impact such as key performance indicators and analytics. 
• Experience creating and executing live events that include multimedia; experience with venue sound systems and recording live events. 
• Experience and high comfort level working with, engaging, and building trust with diverse communities.
• High degree of independent thinking and self-responsibility.
• Enthusiasm for the role of public media in a changing journalism environment.

Full time/part time

Position is full time, benefit eligible. 

Salary

Up to $53,000, based on experience, internal equity, and education

Application deadline

Apply today! The position is open until filled with review of applications to begin Monday, October 31st.

Application instructions

Apply online here.

Applicants must combine all application materials (cover letter, resume, and list of five references with contact information) into one PDF or Microsoft Word document and upload as a resume attachment.

Limit document name to 50 characters. Maximum size limit is 11MB. Do not include special characters (e.g., /, &, %, etc.).

If you are experiencing technical problems, please call (800) 488-5288.

Note, you must provide a description of job duties for each Work Experience entry on your application. Please carefully review the application instructions section of our Careers page prior to submitting your materials.

Comments

KCUR 89.3 is the NPR affiliate in Kansas City and is an editorially-independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Statement on Diversity at KCUR/Classical KC

KCUR and Classical KC are committed to ensuring that our workforce, community advisory board, and audience reflect the diversity found in the communities we serve. Central to KCUR’s mission, vision and values is maintaining a workplace environment that recognizes and celebrates diversity in all forms. For more information on our policies and governance, visit https://www.kcur.org/governance.

See KCUR.org for information about KCUR, Classical KC, and Kansas City.

Equal employment opportunity

Equal Opportunity is and shall be provided for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without unlawful discrimination on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable state or federal law.

This policy shall not be interpreted in such a manner as to violate the legal rights of religious organizations or the recruiting rights of military organizations associated with the Armed Forces or the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America. For more information, call the Vice Chancellor - Human Resources at 816-235-1621.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the duties and functions of this job. If you believe you may have difficulty performing any of the duties or functions of this job, please contact the Office of Affirmative Action at (816) 235-1323.

EEO IS THE LAW

To read more about Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) please use the following links:

• EEO is the Law English Version
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