News Assistant, Politics

Salary: $22.00 per hour

About the role

The News Assistant program is designed to give recent college graduates practical experience in a broadcast news setting. During their tenure, News Assistants are exposed to all aspects of producing a nightly television news program. Over the course of the program, the Politics News Assistant may assist the Politics team with research, pre-interviews, guest booking, transcriptions, field shoots, and tape production.

Responsibilities

• Researching stories and potential interview subjects.
• Pre-interviewing potential guests.
• Booking guests for daily show production.
• Accompanying producers on field shoots.
• Assisting producers with tape production in the edit room.
• Perform related special projects or other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Excellent writing and research skills.
• Demonstrated interest in journalism and/or television production.
• Professional phone manner and solid administrative skills.
• Strong work ethic and effective time management.
• Knowledge of PBS NewsHour’s journalistic style.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Prior experience in a broadcast news setting preferred.
• Or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Location

WETA and NewsHour Productions are Washington, DC established media and news organizations. We are a largely local workforce based out of the Campbell Place office in Arlington, VA. Most positions based in our Arlington, VA office will be onsite or hybrid, depending upon the role.

About the organization

WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation’s capital, produces and distributes content that informs, inspires, and enriches lives. As the second-largest producing station for the public media system, WETA creates programming to explore history, arts, and culture, partnering with acclaimed filmmakers such as Ken Burns and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. National WETA productions include The American Revolution and Finding Your Roots, among many others.

WETA is also home to PBS News, the primary daily, breaking, and special news producer for PBS. Its broadcast productions include PBS News Hour, Washington Week with The Atlantic, Horizons from PBS News, and Compass Points from PBS News, as well as specials, documentaries, and a robust footprint across digital platforms.

Locally, WETA serves audiences across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, through television, radio, and digital platforms. Audiences access WETA on broadcast channels WETA PBS, WETA UK, WETA Metro, WETA World, and WETA PBS Kids, and digitally through the free streaming platform WETA+. Listeners tune into WETA Classical, the exclusive home for classical music in the Greater Washington area, via radio, online, and the WETA Classical app.