Digital Video Journalist / Social Content MMJ

About the role

KVII/KVIH has an immediate opening for a Digital Video Journalist / Social Content MMJ in Amarillo, Texas. We are looking for a creative, self-starting journalist who can create exclusive, platform-first video content for KVII’s digital, streaming, and social audiences.

Responsibilities

• Create original, exclusive digital video content for KVII’s social, mobile, streaming, and online platforms.
• Pitch, research, write, shoot, edit, caption, and publish stories independently.
• Identify local stories, community moments, explainers, weather, sports, public safety, consumer, lifestyle, and trending topics that can perform well with digital and social audiences.
• Develop accountability-focused digital stories that ask questions, seek answers, and follow up on issues important to viewers across the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma Panhandle, and eastern New Mexico.
• Turn viewer concerns, public records, local government decisions, consumer complaints, safety issues, and community problems into clear, fair, accurate, and engaging digital-first journalism.
• Produce “what happened next” follow-ups that track whether promises were kept, problems were fixed, and public concerns were addressed.
• Explain how local decisions affect viewers’ lives, including issues tied to schools, roads, taxes, public safety, severe weather recovery, utilities, housing, agriculture, and local government.
• Turn KVII newsroom content into platform-appropriate social video while also creating original content that starts online.
• Shoot and edit video in the field using professional cameras, mobile tools, and newsroom editing systems.
• Appear on camera when needed for explainers, social updates, live streams, and digital-first storytelling.
• Work with producers, reporters, anchors, photographers, editors, and digital staff to develop content that can live across multiple platforms.
• Contribute video, sound, interviews, and story elements that may be used in KVII linear newscasts when appropriate.
• Monitor audience trends, platform performance, analytics, comments, and engagement to help guide future content decisions.
• Follow KVII and Sinclair editorial standards, copyright rules, legal guidelines, and journalistic ethics.
• Help grow KVII’s social audience, digital video reach, and connection with younger and mobile-first viewers.
• Perform other newsroom and digital duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Strong writing, shooting, and editing skills.
• Ability to work independently as a digital-first MMJ.
• Strong understanding of short-form vertical video and platform-specific storytelling.
• Experience creating content for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, or similar platforms.
• Solid news judgment and understanding of local journalism.
• Ability to ask direct questions, pursue follow-ups, and handle accountability stories with fairness, accuracy, and professionalism.
• Comfort reading public documents, reviewing basic data, requesting information, and turning complex issues into understandable stories.
• Ability to shoot and edit quickly under deadline pressure.
• Knowledge of social media trends, audience behavior, captions, thumbnails, hooks, and video pacing.
• Ability to balance creativity with accuracy, fairness, and newsroom standards.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects at once.
• Flexible schedule, including nights, weekends, holidays, and breaking news as needed.
• Valid driver’s license and clean driving record.

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, digital media, or related field.
• Previous experience as an MMJ, digital journalist, video producer, content creator, social media producer, or accountability reporter.
• Experience with Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, CapCut, Canva, Photoshop, or similar editing/design tools.
• Experience using analytics to evaluate performance and improve content strategy.
• Experience with public records requests, data-driven reporting, source development, or consumer/problem-solving journalism.
• Knowledge of SEO, social headlines, thumbnails, captions, and mobile-first publishing.
• Familiarity with newsroom CMS systems, social publishing tools, and streaming platforms.