As I seek to hire a media reporter, I share some attributes I learned from SIPA that have helped me narrow my search. We also bring you a job posting from Unity in Kansas City.
In a recent issue of Hotline, SIPA’s newsletter, I learned about some attributes I should look for when hiring editorial staff. The timing couldn’t have been better, as that is exactly what I seek to do.
SIPA says this is by no means a comprehensive list of everything a specialized information publisher would want in the ideal new hire, but it does describe what it takes to be a reporter or editor in this business.
Here’s a brief summary of the attributes:
Curiosity: What the specialized information publisher needs in this attribute goes much deeper than the curiosity needed to be a reporter in any media. This industry needs editorial staffers who have a burning desire to get to the bottom of how and why things happen the way they do.
Understanding impacts: All journalists learn in their introductory mass communications class that every good news story should answer the five W’s and H either in the lead or high in the story—who, where, what, when, why and how. But as University of Missouri Journalism Professor Don Ranly is so well-known for saying, it’s the “So what?” that really counts in specialized information reporting.
Unafraid to look dumb: It’s easy for a journalist to be afraid to ask basic questions of a source that go beyond the need for information for a specific story, simply because he or she “doesn’t want to look stupid.” Journalists shouldn’t be afraid to ask the questions that get to the bottom of the curiosity attribute listed above.
Business sense: This attribute has two payoffs for the specialized information publisher. First, since most B2B publications cover (what else?) businesses, knowledge of some of the fundamentals of how businesses operate is a key asset. Another important duty editorial staff should have in a specialized information publishing company is recognizing opportunities for new products.
Jealousy: Of course, this attribute can be overdone, but good specialized information editors should be jealous for the industry they cover. They should be the strongest advocate in the company for that industry and their readers and potential readers in it.
As SIPA’s article points out, experience in the field isn’t as important as the attributes mentioned above. A good specialized information publisher should be able to teach a good journalist how to cover a specialized field in a relatively short time.
Today, we also share a new job posting. It’s from Unity, a not-for-profit publishing house headquartered in Unity Village, Missouri. Unity publishes hundreds of books, pamphlets, CDs, and tapes on a variety of spiritual subjects. Their literature is distributed to hospitals, prisons, nonprofit organizations, and the military. Unity also publishes two magazines to inspire and advance personal growth.
They seek a publisher to lead and develop all publishing activity at Unity including print, multi-media and on line products and services.
If you have a job opening at your company that you’d like us to post, please email Kim.
