Kansas City, MO • Full-Time
The Kansas City Star, winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes, is seeking a creative, high-energy, skilled visual journalist to join our team.
This person, based in the Kansas City metro area, will be responsible for bringing stories to life and telling impactful stories about our diverse and growing community with visual storytelling methods best fit for digital products.
Successful candidates are collaborative, ambitious, and willing to experiment with telling stories in multiple forms across platforms in photography, videography and in writing.
Whether it is capturing the Chiefs’ action at Arrowhead, showcasing the care that a local chef puts into creating a standout dish, documenting the realities of a breaking news event, or helping a community member tell their own story in a personal interview — we are looking for candidates who are excited about the opportunity to use their creativity to show Kansas City to the world through publishing on KansasCity.com, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more.
This position requires that you have excellent news judgment, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and feel comfortable developing and pitching your own story ideas and following them through to publication.
Our visual journalists are encouraged to tell unique visually-driven stories, which may or may not involve collaborating with a reporter. A candidate’s ability to conceptualize a visual story will be weighed with as much or more importance as technical abilities.
The position will be based in Kansas City and will report to the Visuals Editor. The position will require working some nights and weekends. Some travel will be required, and the candidate must have a valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle.
Responsibilities include:
Generate ideas for daily still photo and video stories that meet the needs of our local Kansas City readers
Experiment with forms of visual storytelling that use multimedia at its maximum worth to engage online audiences on our website and on social media platforms
Report, edit and produce compelling visual journalism on deadline
Shoot video and photos in the field and transmit photos from the scene of breaking news and sporting events
Collaborate with journalists across the newsroom, including editors, reporters and the audience team, to develop creative approaches to digital storytelling
Adapt photos and videos for social media use
Write headlines, captions, summaries, social media posts and stories that are engaging and accurate
Produce outstanding still photojournalism and video to accompany storytelling in online digital presentations and for print using mirrorless camera equipment
What you'll bring: The successful candidate should meet many of the following requirements:
A deep knowledge of visual journalism, photography and videography
Ability and comfort with quickly editing video
A familiarity with mirrorless professional camera gear along with capturing sound and video editing. The Star uses state-of-the-art Nikon equipment along with the Adobe editing suite.
Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers
Strong communication and team player skills are required for this highly collaborative position
College degree or equivalent work experience
At least 1-3 years of experience as a visual journalist, preferably in newspapers or digital media
An understanding of audience trends, SEO and digital media are important.
A familiarity with communities in the Kansas City area
Unwavering commitment to accurate, ethical journalism
Ability to work collaboratively to aggressively tackle stories with urgency
Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving as our region grows
To apply, include a persuasive cover letter, your resume and four to six examples of your best work.
For more information and to apply, please visit https://mcclatchy.rec.pro.ukg.net/MCC1008MCLTC/JobBoard/ff11d963-22db-4278-a2b7-709f3b882262/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=457e3a38-ab54-4c6e-8f6d-0a2d7c8519e0&fbclid=IwAR1f3QiwDebe5NTh9oL1Iz8ZqgWsqjYiJvCySiSCymfw8nhSpS-pyfQIyEs_aem_AaFzunixZRkMqGVwmOQGinhapITmCbIOw4LNINe3IgnvmGu05Z38ay25qnfnkdV6T7t_tHj9znnutyPhQQkjHAcs