Job Description

We are currently looking for a Political News Journalist to join our growing publication (contract/freelance opportunities).

Key purpose of this role:

To look for main newsfeed/headline stories and produce 5 to 10 political news articles per day.

Job description/key outputs:

• Quickly identify, produce and publish main political news stories (5-10 per day)
• Cover major political events where necessary and possible
• Be comfortable reporting on major SA political news
• Work closely with your line manager to develop story ideas
• Generate story ideas
• Help aggregate stories to give it a fresh feel and read
• Be proficient on major social media platforms
• Understand keyword targeting and search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Live blog and live tweet on developing stories or on events when required
• Maintain relations with all news leads or sources on a daily basis to develop story ideas
• Weekend writers would work weekends covering all news

• A degree or similar qualification in journalism and/or communications
• Two plus years online publishing experience, with reputable news, academic or industry publisher will be advantageous
• Three to five years' experience covering hard news and politics (i.e main news stories)
• Excellent writing skills
• Extensive contact list of sources and newsmakers
• Able to work independently and be an excellent communicator
• Passionate about news and the publishing industry
• Solid knowledge of working on social media platforms
• Insight into search engine optimisation
• Must have a clear grasp of the South African context, cultural nuances etc.
• In-depth knowledge of news and current affairs
• Proficient in content management systems, analytics tools an advantage
• Knowledge of WordPress an advantage