WGAL News 8, the Hearst-owned NBC affiliate serving Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, PA is looking for an Assignment Manager to lead the assignment desk and coordinate the newsroom team and resources to ensure a continuous flow of information to all platforms. You will often be the first to identify and prioritize breaking news and severe weather conditions. Additionally, you will provide direction to news staff in the formulation and implementation of story ideas and provide editorial input. You will be the master of our newsroom planning calendar and be able to help coordinate staffing plans for big events. You will develop, maintain and utilize outside contacts as sources and take a proactive approach to current issues in the market. You will report to the News Director.
Responsibilities
- Listen to police scanners which cover dozens of agencies throughout the market.
- Respond aggressively to breaking news and severe weather, alert management when news is developing and quickly activate field crews.
- Develop stories and update them by maintaining contact with sources, including police and government agencies.
- Organize day planner with information from press releases, emails, phone calls, viewer tips and staff story ideas. Take initiative and decide which stories would yield compelling content.
- Help plan coverage of major events including scheduling of staff.
- Assist producers, digital editors, reporters and photographers with gathering of information and content.
- Keep track of crews in the field and maintain communication with them.
- Write news stories for our digital platforms, post social media and send push alerts.
- In-person attendance is required.
Requirements
- Experience listening to police scanners.
- Capacity to manage multiple tasks simultaneously while communicating with crews, producers and news managers.
- Familiarity with newsgathering technology and terminology.
- Advanced knowledge of digital platforms, especially social media, as you will monitor multiple social media accounts to gather content and communicate with news makers.
- Strong organizational skills that enable you to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
- Ability to foster and maintain professional working relationships with newsmakers.
- Excellent communication skills providing the ability to gather information from multiple sources and send quickly to news staff.
- An intuitive sense of urgency that enables you to thrive in a high-pressure breaking news and severe weather environment.
- Good judgement, composure, and a steady demeanor that balances urgency with effective productivity in stressful situations.
- Willingness to work a variety of shifts including weekends and nights.
- Natural curiosity and investigative sensibility to ask good questions and help solve problems.
- Related military experience will be considered.
Diversity Statement
At Hearst Television we tell stories every day. Stories about people of all cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and identities. That's why, behind the scenes, we believe in being an organization as diverse and varied as the audience we reach, ensuring that the content we create is more compassionate, and more representative of the communities we serve.
Benefits
Hearst's benefit programs are modern, flexible and designed to focus on you. As a Hearst employee, you and your spouse or partner or dependents would have access to the following benefits.
- Medical | Dental | Vision
- 401(k) matching
- Emotional Wellness Support
- Paid Time Off
- Paid Parental Leave
- LGBTQ+ Health Services
- Additional benefits to meet your and your family's needs
