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Lecturer, Newsroom Initiative Deputy Editor

Boston University

Department of Journalism

College of Communication

Boston University’s College of Communication invites applications for a one year Lecturer position in the Department of Journalism, beginning July 1, 2025. This position will help oversee a professionally run, student-driven newsroom designed to serve news organizations in Greater Boston and beyond and get students published so they have the clips they need to embark on a career in journalism. We seek an innovative colleague with deep editing experience who is facile at developing story ideas and eager to work with students to create superb journalism. We are especially eager to recruit a colleague who supports our institutional commitment to ensuring BU is an environment that is inclusive, equitable, and diverse and where all constituents can thrive.

BU is launching this newsroom to provide students real-time, real-world experience in a variety of journalistic endeavors, but most especially for digital-first publications. We want our ambitious and talented students to be able to gain invaluable real-world experience while assembling a portfolio of professionally published work that will help launch them toward meaningful careers.

This Lecturer will essentially be a deputy editor of a start-up news organization. The deputy editor will help in soliciting interest throughout the region with a particular eye toward the many nonprofit news organizations that are blossoming and in need of journalism. In coordination with the editor in chief, the deputy editor will accept story pitches, generate ideas, and work with students and faculty to put a high level of quality control on every story, photograph, and graphic that leaves BU. Several existing classes, from our State House program to our newsroom courses, will be filtered through this initiative.

BU is primed to do this very well, especially in this moment. The department, the largest in New England, is committed to fostering a diverse community within a supportive and respectful environment. From its earliest days, Boston University has opened its doors to women and people from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups.

We believe that the diversity of our faculty, students, and staff is essential to our success as a leading research university and is an integral component of institutional excellence. BU is an AAU institution with a rich tradition dedicated to inclusion and social justice. We are proud of our record of inclusiveness, including the fact that we were the first American university to award a Ph.D. to a woman. We are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in journalism by underrepresented groups at BU and beyond. We expect applicants to embrace principles of diversity and equity in their teaching, mentoring, and professional product.

The Journalism Department is driven by a mission to educate, inspire, and encourage aspiring journalists. Our faculty is distinguished by a passion for the work and a dedication to supporting our students and each other. We follow and teach best professional and ethical practices, and are committed to truth-telling in a tumultuous media environment. We firmly believe in the future of journalism and working collaboratively to help our students continue to become world-class leaders in the field. We are also committed to the health of the industry, and as much as our newsroom will launch students, it will boost growing nonprofit news organizations and their readers with quality BU-driven journalism.

Required Skills

Key duties:

Assist the editor in operating a professionally run, student-driven newsroom designed to sharpen emerging journalists’ skills, get them published and provide stories for the growing number of nonprofit/community news organizations in Greater Boston and beyond.

Work with students to develop story ideas, shape assignments and produce high-quality, ready-for-publication journalism for news organizations across the region. Coach students and provide practical advice on story assignments.

Edit stories with the rigor and discipline demanded by the industry’s best newsrooms

Conduct outreach to potential partner news organizations and collaborate with their editors on coverage areas and needs.

Coordinate story assignments and deadlines with editors in partner news organizations and with faculty.

Help students manage deadlines so partner newsrooms have a steady, predictable flow of work for their publications.

Provide regular feedback to students.

A successful candidate should have the following:

· A distinguished career as a journalist, including a record of sustained excellence, especially as an editor who has worked directly with reporters.

· A track record of innovation and a strong grasp of many facets of journalism.

· The qualifications for an appointment as a lecturer at Boston University. http://www.bu.edu/handbook/appointments-andpromotions/classification-of-ranks-and-titles/

· A master’s degree is preferred but not required.

· Experience in mentoring is required; experience in management is preferred.

· Experience in an academic community, including teaching, is a plus.

Applications should include a letter of interest, including a statement of teaching (or editing) philosophy that includes a vision of how we can best prepare future journalists.

A CV or resume and the names of three references are also requested. Applications may be sent by mail or, preferably, by email, with attachments in a Word or PDF file format, to:

Lena Sheehan

Department Administrator

Boston University College of Communication,

640 Commonwealth Ave.

Boston, MA 02215.

Email: sheehanl@bu.edu.

All inquiries will be confidential. Review of materials will begin November 15, 2024, and continue until the position is filled.

Established in 1947, the College of Communication (COM) at Boston University is a large college with departments specializing in Film and Television, Journalism, Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations. COM’s student population exceeds 2200 students annually, including undergraduate and Master’s level students. The college integrates a strong liberal arts core with a heavy focus on preparing students for careers as communication professionals. Our faculty is a blend of traditional academicians and widely experienced professionals. Located in the “hub of education” and a major media market, Boston University’s College of Communication offers prospective faculty members a wealth of opportunities for collaborative efforts in academic and professional spheres.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

BU conducts a background check on all final candidates for certain faculty and staff positions. The background check includes contacting the final candidate’s current and previous employer(s) to ask whether, in the last 7 years, there has been a substantiated finding of misconduct violating that employer’s applicable sexual misconduct policies. To implement this process, the University requires a final candidate to complete and sign an authorization to release information” after execution of an offer letter.

Required Experience