The Mail & Guardian Online is looking for a hard-working, fast and innovative individual to run our social media platforms and create content suited to and inspired by social media trends. They need to have social media and sub-editing skills, as well as a strong news awareness and understanding of young and emerging audiences. This is a mid-level post, and the successful candidate will report to the online deputy editor.
Key performance areas:
- Manage and regularly update the M&G's social media accounts, and tend to followers and fans across various platforms
- Attend daily news diary meetings and help integrate social media into daily coverage: tip-offs, sourcing experts and other comment.
- Stay abreast of new developments in the social media space and new story-telling tools, and innovate constantly, including creating an M&G presence on other social media platforms
- Oversee comment moderation for the main M&G news site and our social media pages: working with site editors to ensure comments are regularly moderated, flagged items are noted and tend commenting community
- Create daily articles or other multimedia content around memes and trending topics
- Invite content from our readers and contribute to creating an open newsroom using social media and other tools to harness reader engagement
- Running a dedicated blog where you cover items of interest to the community
- Work with the rest of the M&G newsroom to ensure the use of social media effectively in projects and coverage, including the running of training workshops where necessary.
Qualifications and experience required:
- An appropriate post-matric qualification
- At least two years' experience in a related field
- Sub-editing experience would be a great advantage
- An excellent knowledge of media law and ethics
- First-class English language skills
- A firm grasp of current affairs, both local and international
- Net-savvy with demonstrable social-media know-how
Characteristics and competencies
- Great attention to detail
- Thinks email is so, like, last year
- Self-motivated and passionate
- Fast worker
- Has a Google+ account, but isn't sure why
- Innovative with strong problem-solving abilities
- Ability to work quickly and accurately under pressure
- Strong analytical ability
Please mail a brief but comprehensive CV and covering letter explaining why you would be perfect for the position. You can also tweet @verashni, but don't say anything embarrassing or sycophantic.
Employment equity candidates will be preferred, but don't bother boycotting us over it – we're not Woolworths.
Closing date: September 30 2012
Only shortlisted applicants who meet the criteria will be contacted. If you have not received a response within 14 days after closing of the advert, please accept that your application was not successful.