Assistant Editor: Politics and Opinion at Media24 (Pty) Ltd

Key responsibilities:

• Determine and manage the politics diary on a daily basis.
• Manage a team of political reporters in Johannesburg and Cape Town (Parliament).
• Oversee the Opinions team to deliver daily quality opinions and editorial pieces.
• Maintain regular contact with the head of news to plan and coordinate diaries.
• Identify the key stories of the day in order to produce consistent and excellent news stories.
• Adhere to deadlines and publishing schedules to position News24 as the most trusted title in politics.
• Gather, write and present in-depth political news reports.
• Analyse political information and produce regular columns and informative analyses.
• Liaise with the production staff and multimedia editor to produce video and audio content of political news.
• Build up and maintain a network of local and national contacts.
• Attend political meetings, gatherings and other events with political role-players.

Skills and competencies:

• The ability to manage a team under daily deadlines and in a changing news cycle.
• The ability to set the agenda with exclusive and in-depth coverage of South African politics.
• To prioritise big stories with a team of reporters.
• Analytical thinking to produce insightful columns and analyses.
• Sound news judgment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A team player who liaise regularly with fellow editors.

Qualification and experience:

• At least ten years’ experience as a political journalist in a national newsroom.
• A relevant tertiary qualification.
• Proven experience as political writer with the ability to produce insightful and exclusive stories.
• A proven network of political contacts.