Visual Journalist

Date Posted	April 10, 2024
Industry	Newspapers
Specialty	Other
Required Education	Bachelor's Degree
Job Status	Full-time

Description:

The Kansas City Star, winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes, is seeking a creative, high-energy, skilled visual journalist to join our team.

This person, based in the Kansas City metro area, will be responsible for bringing stories to life and telling impactful stories about our diverse and growing community with visual storytelling methods best fit for digital products.

Successful candidates are collaborative, ambitious, and willing to experiment with telling stories in multiple forms across platforms in photography, videography and in writing.

Whether it is capturing the Chiefs’ action at Arrowhead, showcasing the care that a local chef puts into creating a standout dish, documenting the realities of a breaking news event, or helping a community member tell their own story in a personal interview — we are looking for candidates who are excited about the opportunity to use their creativity to show Kansas City to the world through publishing on KansasCity.com, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more.

This position requires that you have excellent news judgment, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and feel comfortable developing and pitching your own story ideas and following them through to publication.

Our visual journalists are encouraged to tell unique visually-driven stories, which may or may not involve collaborating with a reporter. A candidate’s ability to conceptualize a visual story will be weighed with as much or more importance as technical abilities.

We prioritize hiring journalists who approach their work with an audience focus, who are motivated by producing powerful visual journalism that explores issues that resonate with our local readers.

The position will be based in Kansas City and will report to the Visuals Editor. The position will require working some nights and weekends. Some travel will be required, and the candidate must have a valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle.

You’ll join a team that is fun, creative and always looking for new ways to connect with and inform our diverse audience across platforms. The newsroom you’ll join is deeply committed to listening to, engaging with, and meeting the needs of our neighbors across the Kansas City metro area.

Kansas City is a vibrant, large city with a high quality of life – replete with iconic professional sports teams and a world-class arts scene – and a low cost of living. It’s a fantastic place to put down roots, and this job offers the chance to contribute to its future.

We believe that our team is stronger when we include individuals with a variety of perspectives and experiences, and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Responsibilities include:

• Generate ideas for daily still photo and video stories that meet the needs of our local Kansas City readers
• Experiment with forms of visual storytelling that use multimedia at its maximum worth to engage online audiences on our website and on social media platforms
• Report, edit and produce compelling visual journalism on deadline
• Shoot video and photos in the field and transmit photos from the scene of breaking news and sporting events
• Collaborate with journalists across the newsroom, including editors, reporters and the audience team, to develop creative approaches to digital storytelling
• Adapt photos and videos for social media use
• Write headlines, captions, summaries, social media posts and stories that are engaging and accurate
• Produce outstanding still photojournalism and video to accompany storytelling in online digital presentations and for print using mirrorless camera equipment

What you'll bring: The successful candidate should meet many of the following requirements:

• A deep knowledge of visual journalism, photography and videography
• Ability and comfort with quickly editing video
• A familiarity with mirrorless professional camera gear along with capturing sound and video editing. The Star uses state-of-the-art Nikon equipment along with the Adobe editing suite.
• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers
• Strong communication and team player skills are required for this highly collaborative position
• College degree or equivalent work experience
• At least 1-3 years of experience as a visual journalist, preferably in newspapers or digital media
• An understanding of audience trends, SEO and digital media are important.
• A familiarity with communities in the Kansas City area
• Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
• Ability to work collaboratively to aggressively tackle stories with urgency
• Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving as our region grows
• Must have reliable transportation. Must have valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance required (at least minimum insurance required for the state in which the employee works)
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds.

What we’ll bring: As a journalist at McClatchy, you will join a supportive, flexible, collaborative team. McClatchy strives to be an employer of choice, and our benefits package is made with this goal in mind. With a focus on health, well-being, wealth and daily life, our package options include healthcare coverage for employees and their families, financial protection from expected and unexpected expenses, multiple no-cost wellness resources and even coverage for four-legged friends. 

Our overall benefits package also includes a 401(k) with employer match, competitive paid time off and corporate holidays, and a variety of mental health benefits. With an excellent support team and with focus on your well-being as a top corporate strategy, McClatchy provides benefits to support you and your family in achieving your health and wellness goals. For more information on McClatchy's benefit plan, please visit McClatchyLivewell.com.

To apply, include a persuasive cover letter, your resume and four to six examples of your best work.

About McClatchy: Our impact is growing every day. 30 growing markets. Over 65 million monthly readers. 57 Pulitzer Prizes. A strong portfolio of dynamic partnerships and smart investments. Our award-winning journalism, digital reach, and commitment to innovative growth have never been stronger.

As a member of the McClatchy family, you are part of a flexible, empowering, and exciting culture dedicated to creating a work/life balance and consistent opportunities for growth—a place where you have a voice and the ability to impact our future. It’s an exciting time to be here. Our company is experiencing the most transformative period in its history. We’re growing rapidly in the digital space and delivering award-winning journalism in innovative ways.