Broadcast Journalist (Digital) at BBC

Job Reference: BBC/TP/900558/24318
Department: BBC Africa
Reports to: Sports Editor, BBC Africa
Contract: Continuing
Job Category: Journalism
Business Unit: News - W2020

The Job

• We are looking for Digital journalist to work in a new Africa Sports Unit which aims to provide a unique insight into Sport stories in original formats.
• The African service digital offer consists of websites, mobile sites and Social Media with all services providing multimedia content in text, video, interactive and audio for radio, online, TV, mobile and social media platforms.
• The successful candidate will need to have excellent knowledge of sport in Africa, global sport, particularly the Premiership and Athletics, and an understanding of what audiences are looking for in digital and social media sports coverage.
• They must demonstrate strong editorial judgement and solid journalistic skills.
• The job will require ambition, imagination and a large degree of initiative with the high editorial, journalism and production values expected by the BBC.

Main Duties

• To plan, write and commission sports stories, analysis and features on Sport for Africa using text, video and audio.
• To originate, prepare and publish pages of sports content, background, analysis, features and video.
• To create digital video, write for our website and other social platforms and promote our Sports content in an engaging format with the audience.
• To think up original ways to tell stories, especially for existing and emerging digital platforms.
• To produce and commission short-form and long-form digital content.
• To gather content for digital platforms from the field.
• To contribute to the BBC News website’s Africa desk. The journalist will build on our existing African coverage, including the Africa Live page.
• To work with graphic designers to produce creative and original graphics sequences which can be shared by other BBC departments.
• To develop story ideas and creative content working both individually and with others to develop treatments of the highest quality and with journalism at the heart.
• Working closely with colleagues from BBC Africa to identify promising story ideas and content, and help adapt it for online audiences where appropriate.
• To generate ideas and material that can work across all platforms in order to maximise impact and efficiencies.
• To help increase the co-operation between teams and ensure more collaborative future planning.
• To adhere to Editorial Guidelines and BBC Industry Codes of Practice and be responsible for ensuring safe working practices and the observance of BBC’s Health and Safety Regulations.

Skills and Experience

• Good knowledge of sport, in particular sport that appeals to an African audience.
• Proven text journalism writing and editing skills.
• Good understanding of social media and user generated content, and of different digital platforms and devices.
• Excellent written and spoken English is essential. Pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa is desirable.
• Creativity and ideas generation.
• Good planning and organisational skills.
• Good team working skills.
• Proven editorial judgement and the ability to make decisions under tight deadlines.
• Well-developed organisational skills and the ability to maintain a high standard of performance whilst under pressure.
• An awareness of the latest broadcast technology.
• An awareness of budget issues.

Competencies
Editorial Judgement:

• Makes the right editorial and policy decisions based upon a clear understanding of the BBC’s Producer guidelines and Editorial Policy.

Subject Knowledge:

• Demonstrates a good knowledge of mainstream sport. Develops increasingly useful contacts and sources.

Decision Making:

• Is ready and able to take initiative, and make decisions to tight deadlines.

Planning and Organising:

• Is able to think ahead in order to establish an effective and appropriate course of action for self and others.
• Prioritises and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources requirements.

Analytical Thinking:

• Able to simplify complex problems, process projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically.

Imagination and Creative Thinking:

• Translates sports stories and events into high quality content through a detailed understanding of the requirements of the broadcast media and possession of the necessary writing, directing and reporting skills.

Resilience:

• Can maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, setbacks or when dealing with provocative situations.
• Can demonstrate an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.

Communication:

• The ability to get one’s message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.

Influencing and Persuasion:

• Ability to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others.
• Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.

Managing Relationships and Team Working:

• Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people.
• Highly effective team player; works for the benefit of the whole team.

Understanding Diversity:

• Understands and appreciates the uniqueness of self and others.
• Demonstrates, and is committed to improving, understanding of why people react in particular ways.
• Understanding diversity in its widest sense.
• Demonstrates a commitment to improving diversity in the BBC.
• Takes a balanced approach to discussing and taking action on diversity issues.
• Articulates how individual differences can benefit the BBC.

Salary
Local terms and conditions.

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