[Journalists] Job Opening: FOSTER CARE MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

[LynnZ]

Passing along this job opening   from the web site:
http://www.youthcomm.org/Tempdocs/Jobposting-03-08.html

Job Opening:
FOSTER CARE MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR for Represent: The Voice of 
Youth in Care, an award-winning, 40-page 
bi-monthly magazine written by and for youth living in foster care
(national circ. 10,000). Represent is published 
by Youth Communication, a nonprofit youth development and publishing program.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The associate editor will work one-on-one with a 
diverse and challenging teen staff to develop 
personal and reported stories for the magazine. The associate
editor will also co-teach a summer writing 
workshop with the editor and facilitate group 
meetings and projects. Other duties include researching story
ideas, copyediting, and mentoring. Salary 
$37-$41K, depending on experience & skills, plus good benefits.

Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis 
until the position is filled. Please give us 
necessary contact information. We will contact only those
candidates we intend to interview. Please read 
more about Youth Communication and Represent at
www.youthcomm.org
  before applying.

To apply, send cover letter, resume, and two 
writing samples to: Represent, 224 W. 29th St., 
2nd fl, New York, NY 10001. People of color are strongly encouraged
to apply. No calls or email, please.

QUALIFICATIONS
The two editors of Represent work intensively 
with a group of young people between the ages of 
14 and 21 to shape a magazine that reflects the experiences
and concerns of youth in foster care. Our writers 
have a lot to say, but often have very marginal 
skills and little or no journalism experience. Most of
them are struggling with significant emotional 
issues related to their family and foster care 
experiences. The ideal candidate would be intuitive and empathic
with a deep interest in youth development and in 
issues affecting foster youth, and excellent 
writing, editing, research, and teaching skills. The ability
to plan and meet deadlines is essential.

This job requires the ability to meet high 
standards and work effectively in a loosely 
structured environment in which broad goals have been determined,
but in which the editor has a large measure of 
autonomy and responsibility for figuring out how 
to reach them. The associate editor must be able to handle
unpredictability and to take the initiative to 
seek information and support. Working with youth 
who have experienced trauma is emotionally challenging.

The associate editor must also have the ability 
and desire to work as part of a team, in 
partnership with a co-editor and, to a lesser extent, with other
editorial and production staff. The associate 
editor must have strong interpersonal 
communication skills and the ability to collaborate productively.

A high degree of self-awareness and the ability 
to seek support when needed is essential.

RESPONSIBILITIES
The editor and associate editor work closely 
together to produce copy for Represent, which is 
published bi-monthly. Under the direction of the editor,
the associate editor is responsible for a range 
of duties, from researching story ideas to 
helping writers develop stories to proofreading final page proofs.
The following is a list of major responsibilities 
in their approximate order of importance:

Work with & Train Teen Writers. At any given time 
you will be developing one-on-one collaborative 
relationships with up to a dozen volunteer teen writers.
You’ll help them explore their lives and 
experiences, develop and focus their ideas, and 
guide their reporting as they interview their peers and adult
experts. You will occasionally accompany them to 
events. Most importantly, however, you’ll meet 
with them regularly and provide careful readings and detailed
written comments on their writing, helping them 
work through as many as a dozen drafts of each story.

Because many of our stories are personal essays, 
you will work closely with writers to help them 
identify and describe the key emotions and experiences
they want to convey. Editors often take on a 
quasi-counseling role as they help guide writers 
through their stories and their lives.

Edit Student Work. You will work collaboratively 
with each writer to find the form, structure, 
style, and story length appropriate to the topic, the writer’s
ability, and the interest of our readers. You 
will edit a range of stories, including personal 
essays, reported stories, and reviews. You will also work
with a range of writers, including teens who 
don’t know when to stop writing and teens who 
need to have each paragraph pried out of them. One of the most
important aspects of the job is to find a way of 
working with each writer that is comfortable and effective for both of you.

In addition to helping shape writers’ stories as 
they write them, you will be expected to final 
edit each story for clarity, fairness, accuracy, grammar,
usage, and style. It is also important to provide 
thoughtful feedback on stories that are being 
edited by your colleagues. Represent is a professional
publication and our editors adhere to high journalistic standards.

Co-teach Intensive Journalism Workshops & Other 
Group Work. Together with the other editor, each 
summer you'll teach an intensive six-week writing workshop
for a group of 10 teen writers. You’ll teach them 
the basics of writing and reporting for 
Represent, supervise their work and edit their stories for publication.
The associate editor also helps plan and 
facilitate editorial meetings and discussions 
throughout the year. From time to time we receive grants for special
projects that the associate editor may be 
responsible for leading or co-leading.

Production. The editors work together on story 
selection and layout, headline writing, proofing 
galleys, selecting artwork, and other production-related
tasks. (Desktop publishing staff assemble the 
pages.) This may require occasional late nights and weekend days.

Youth Development/Child Welfare Policy. While it 
is not required that the associate editor have a 
background in social work or child welfare policy, it’s
essential that editors, over time, become 
familiar with child welfare policy and emotional 
and developmental issues related to trauma and recovery, which
inform every issue of Represent.

Freelance Work. Because of the demanding learning 
curve, no freelance work is permitted during the 
editor’s first six months. In addition, our experience
has been that editing a Youth Communication 
magazine does not allow for any but the most 
occasional freelance work (unless you do not sleep). If you expect
to continue or initiate a freelance career this is not the job for you.

HOURS • PAY • BENEFITS

Hours: Monday-Friday, 10:00 - 6:30

Vacation/Benefits: Youth Communication currently 
offers 8 holidays, plus 15 vacation days the 
first year, though vacations must be scheduled around our
publishing requirements. After three months you 
are eligible for a fully paid individual health 
care plan. After six months, we offer a modest pension
plan and Transit Checks.

Salary: $37-$41K/year, commensurate with 
experience in teaching, editing, writing, social 
work, and supervision. (You don't need experience in all of these
areas, but they will be factored into starting pay.)

Commitment: Because of the importance of stable 
relationships to teens in care, a good-faith two-year commitment is preferred.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Youth Communication

Youth Communication helps New York City teens 
develop the skills and self-awareness and acquire 
the information they need to make informed choices about
their lives. We do that by:

list of 3 items
• training teens in journalism and related skills;
• producing publications written and illustrated by young people;
• encouraging teens and the adults who work with 
them to use our publications to stimulate 
reading, writing, discussion, and reflection.
list end

We currently publish three magazines:
New Youth Connections
, founded in 1980, is a general interest magazine 
with a circulation of 70,000 in New York City.
Represent: The Voice of Youth in Care
, founded in 1993, is a national magazine written 
by and for young people in foster care.
Rise
, founded last year, is a thrice-yearly magazine 
written by parents who are involved with the 
child welfare system. All of the magazines also have a presence
on the web.

ABOUT REPRESENT
Represent gives a voice to young people living in 
the system. It provides writers with a place to 
express their views and experiences, and gives readers
the chance to see their lives reflected back to 
them in a real and thoughtful way. In addition, 
many adults (social workers, group home staff, advocates,
and agency administrators) read the magazine to 
understand what foster youth are thinking and 
experiencing. The magazine is written by a core writing staff
of about 15 youngsters in our Manhattan office, 
but accepts submissions from throughout the 
country. About half of the circulation is outside of New York.

OUR ADULT STAFF
Our full-time adult
staff
  includes a publisher/executive director, two 
editors for each of our two magazines, an 
editorial director, an administrative director, an IT/web director,
a marketing director, and several part-time 
staff, including an illustration instructor.

CONTACTING US
Reply via regular mail to: Represent, 224 W. 29th St., 2nd fl. NYC 10001.

(No calls or e-mail, please)

(back to top)

Main |
About Youth Communication |
NYC |
Represent
|
Books |
Teacher Resources
|
Privacy Statement
|
E-mail

Youth Communication/NY Center, Inc., 224 W. 29th 
St., New York, NY 10001—212-279-0708, FAX: 212-279-8856
youthcomm.org © 2002-2008