AP is looking for an editorial assistant that wants to grow and develop multimedia and interactive skills.

LSH1008-831 — Editorial Assistant, West Regional Desk

The Associated Press seeks a full-time Editorial Assistant at its regional editing desk in Phoenix. This is a temporary position expected to last up to two years.

The regional desk editorial assistant joins a team that leads general news coverage and provides support to state bureaus in one of the AP’s four domestic regions. An EA is typically a journalist interested in gaining newsroom experience and working toward a position as an AP newsperson. He or she will handle a variety of clerical tasks, both for the state bureaus in the territory and the regional desk. They include:

• Answering the phone and monitoring breaking news on television and on the Web, via RSS feeds and social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
• Compiling, editing and filing state daybooks, and helping maintain state, regional and national news calendars.
• Working with state news editors and the region’s news editors/photos to coordinate photo coverage: live, from AP members and from the AP Images archive.
• Taking dictation from reporters and from news events broadcast on television.
• Compiling the results of reporting and other information for use by AP reporters and editors.
• Performing basic research by phone and online, including the use of tools such as Nexis, FACTIVA and TV Eyes.
• Preparing and filing a variety of state and national fixtures, including agricultural and weather agate, editorial roundups and capsules on war dead.
• Working with state news editors and regional desk staff to manage and maintain bureau Web sites and planning tools, including wikis and Microsoft SharePoint sites.
• Occasionally preparing Member Exchanges, pickups and broadcast fixtures for a state wire.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Demonstrated excellence working in a newsroom environment, which includes exercising news judgment in accordance with AP’s mission, working accurately and quickly under deadline, and juggling multiple tasks effectively and independently.
• Outstanding communications skills and the ability to work well with colleagues in a team environment while being a self-starter.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent and at least one year of experience in a professional news setting.
• Ability to adapt to a fast-changing news environment, providing support at critical times to AP reporters and editors on deadline.
• Strong skills with the Internet and online research, including social networking.
• Mastery of the core functions of Microsoft Excel, including the ability to create and update complex spreadsheets.
• Must be able to demonstrate a high level of fluency in written and spoken English.
• Authorization to work in the United States is mandatory.

To apply, visit http://www.ap.org/apjobs/index.html.