Position Summary: The Graduate Assistant (GA) for the Community News Lab supports the growth and day-to-day operations of the lab through editorial leadership, community engagement, partnership coordination, and audience development. This position plays a key role in advancing the lab’s mission to produce meaningful community-centered journalism while strengthening collaborations among students, faculty, media partners, and community organizations.
Primary Responsibilities
Editorial Support & Story Development
- Assist in overseeing story development by helping generate, refine, and track story ideas aligned with the mission of the Community News Lab.
- Work with student journalists on pitching, developing, and advancing multimedia reporting projects.
- Provide editorial support through content review, feedback, and copyediting to help prepare stories for publication.
- Support quality control and editorial workflows for written, audio, video, and digital content.
Media Partnership Liaison
- Serve as a liaison between the Community News Lab and media partners, particularly BCTV and The Alvernian.
- Coordinate processes for placing student-produced content on BCTV.org, The Alvernian, and other partner platforms.
- Help maintain communication with partners regarding story opportunities, publishing timelines, and collaborative initiatives.
- Support development of expanded media partnerships and cross-platform content opportunities.
Community Partnerships & Engagement
- Assist with cultivating and maintaining relationships with community partners, especially organizations in the arts and culture sector.
- Help communicate with community partners to identify story opportunities, collaborative projects, and engagement initiatives.
- Support partnerships with nonprofits, local organizations, media outlets, and university departments that advance the lab’s mission.
- Represent the Community News Lab, as appropriate, at community events, public programs, and partnership meetings.
Professional Development & Field Engagement
- May have opportunities to attend community events, journalism workshops, conferences, and professional development programs related to reporting, engagement, and media innovation.
- Support bringing insights from these experiences back to strengthen student learning and lab initiatives.
Promotion, Social Media & Strategic Initiatives
- Assist with promoting the Community News Lab through social media, newsletters, events, and outreach.
- Help build and strengthen the Community News Lab’s social media presence across digital platforms.
- Support the sharing and amplification of student journalism by helping feature student-produced stories, multimedia work, and reporting projects on CNL social channels and partner platforms.
- Contribute ideas for growing audience engagement and showcasing the impact of student work to campus and community audiences.
- Assist with content planning and promotional strategies that elevate the lab’s visibility and support its long-term growth.
- Support additional initiatives related to university-community collaborations, special projects, and emerging opportunities.
Program Support & Administration
- Assist with organizing meetings, maintaining editorial calendars, and supporting lab operations.
- Help track project progress, partnerships, and outcomes.
- Support additional projects and emerging priorities related to the strategic development of the Community News Lab.
Preferred Qualifications
- Graduate student in Communication, Journalism, Digital Media, Public Relations, or related field.
- Strong writing, editing, organizational, and digital communication skills.
- Interest in community journalism, audience engagement, arts and culture reporting, and partnership building.
- Experience with multimedia storytelling, digital publishing, or social media content creation preferred.
- Ability to work collaboratively with students, faculty, community partners, and media organizations.