We are looking for a Producer to create inspiring multimedia news content for young people and play a central role in the Foundation’s growing impact. If the job description below is interesting to you, please send your CV and a cover letter to Emily, at emilyevans@economist.com.
Practical details
- Location: London (Canary Wharf, with regular hot-desking at The Adelphi near Charing Cross)
- Hours: Full time or flexible working
- Salary: Dependent on experience
About The Economist Educational Foundation
We are a small, ambitious and fast-growing charity that was set up from inside The Economist newspaper in 2012. Our mission is to tackle inequality by giving disadvantaged young people the skills to think for themselves about current affairs.
A young person’s socioeconomic background powerfully determines the opportunities they will have in life. Inequality is clear in education, where young people eligible for free school meals are significantly less likely to get good GCSEs or go to university. Discussing the news can be a powerful way for young people to develop tools that can change their chances: knowledge of issues affecting their lives, critical thinking skills, literacy and confidence.
Our programme, the Burnet News Club (BNC), is a network of weekly school news clubs. We give teachers everything they need to run a club in their school. We provide outstanding multimedia news content for young people, and we support teachers to use this content to stimulate powerful discussions between the students. These discussions actively develop young people’s ability to think critically about the world around them. Students also have access to a dedicated online platform where they discuss the issues with counterparts in different communities, who have very different experiences and perspectives on the issues.
Summary of the role
The Producer is responsible for creating inspiring multimedia news content for 9 to 14-year-olds.
You will create multimedia content packages exploring important topical issues in depth, spending six to eight weeks working on each package. We are looking for a self-shooter and video editor who is also an excellent writer.
You will need to build strong relationships within The Economist’s editorial teams, attending editorial meetings for inspiration on issues to cover, and engaging subject specialists to gain relevant insights and contacts. Working closely with teachers in the Foundation team, you will agree the brief for each content package together, creatively deciding on formats, styles and story angles that will achieve educational objectives and stimulate young minds.
For candidates who are interested, there is also the option to write fictional scripts and direct actors. Each year, we produce a series of films that explore important issues in the news through fictional characters based on real interviews. These films are broadcast into schools across the UK as part of a one-day, interactive event each February.
The opportunity to shape the role and develop the Foundation’s content
Our news content is unique, and our ambition is to be a world leader in young people’s news. We would like to find a Producer who can help us to realise this, by shaping the role and advising on our strategy for producing content.
We are very open to supporting and funding ideas, from the equipment that we should invest in to the editorial team that we should look to build as the Foundation grows. We will support you as needed within our current means, including if you wish to recruit freelancers to support with particular projects.
We are a small charity and we have a small charity’s budget. However, The Economist is generous in lending volunteer journalistic and subject expertise, and equipment when we need it. Also, we are a growing organisation, and we are motivated to seek future funding to develop our content.
Our news content
We believe that producing news for a diverse young audience is a uniquely powerful way to achieve the mission of good journalism:
- Inform: Young people have too few sources of accurate, in-depth information about serious issues that affect their lives. Our content blends journalistic and teaching techniques to make complex issues accessible.
- Stimulate thought: Reach people whose minds are open to new ideas. Produce content that helps ensure future generations have the skills to see past fake news, poor arguments and polarised debates. You can be sure of thoughtful engagement with the content you produce, as it will be delivered by trained teachers and used to stimulate cross-community conversations online.
- Help to hold power to account: Support disadvantaged and marginalised people to engage with current affairs and find their voices, by inspiring them early.
What the job offers
- A unique combination of the creative freedom and growth potential of a start-up with the reach, influence, journalistic expertise and resources of a powerful global media brand.
- Significant scope to shape both the role and an ambitious, fast-growing organisation.
- Ability to create content that has unique social impact, because it is for young people from a diverse mix of backgrounds, and it not only informs and inspires but develops their ability to engage critically.
- Ambitious aims: we want to create the best news content for young people, and we want to constantly innovate and explore new ways to do this.
- Being part of a small, friendly and passionate team.
Requirements
A self-shooter and video editor (a technical and editorial understanding of lighting and sound issues would be useful).
- A self-starter who can manage their own projects to time, to budget and to the highest quality.
- Resilient, flexible and able to manage unexpected obstacles or changes.
- An excellent writer who is able to communicate ideas and information clearly and concisely.
- Passion for creating news content for a diverse young audience.
- Ability to listen to and interpret ideas and objectives put forward by collaborators, including teachers in the Foundation team or subject specialists in The Economist’s editorial teams.
- Ability to think creatively and analytically about how to achieve educational and editorial objectives.
- Ability to establish credibility and build strong working relationships with a wide range of people inside and outside of The Economist.
This role involves working with young people, so you will need to have a DBS check (which the Foundation can organise).
Desirable
- The experience and creativity to shape the role and advise on how best to develop the Foundation’s news content.
- The ability to make the most of what’s available to you at The Economist, including the Foundation’s education expertise and the company’s journalistic expertise, reach, network and brand.
Diversity and inclusion
We value diversity in all respects, including age, cultural identity, race, colour, ethnic origin, national origin, gender, religious beliefs, disability, class or sexual orientation. We know that teams are more effective when they benefit from a wide range of perspectives, experiences and skills. It is particularly important for the Foundation to achieve diversity in its staff, in order to best understand the needs of the young people we work with and to provide them with a wide range of role models.
We welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone, which harnesses the experiences and perspectives of a diverse group of people.
Application process
Please send a CV and cover letter to Emily, at emilyevans@economist.com.