Better Hiring Practices Playbook

🗣️ “If someone was trying to decide between one station and the station with (a) supportive news director who wants to help students. I would say you should go there. You should go work for her.”

— Emily Hughes Corio, journalism & media program chair, teaching professor and internship coordinator at West Virginia University

Early-career opportunities should be mutually beneficial positions, but those that build skills, reputation and connections for the candidate.

Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University, said that hiring managers should act as agents, helping these journalists but not guaranteeing lifelong positions.

"We'll build a good portfolio together, you'll learn while you're here and grow and build things you are proud of,” she said.

Mentorship Q&A with Emma Carew Grovum

🗣️ “Be supportive the first couple of weeks, and I think you'll really get a lot of return on your investment with internships and students entering their first job.”

- Brady Teufel

Think back to your first internship or job: What’s the one thing that stood out? Is it the mentors who guided you into local news, or the fabulous projects you got to work on, or maybe the other journalists who taught you as much as your editor?

Newsrooms can tailor the experience to the early career journalist through one-on-one mentoring. The mentor should be able to identify the journalist’s learning style, long-term goals and challenges in order to help them grow.

This isn’t only the responsibility of the mentor and/or hiring manager, but a group effort — how is your organization as a whole going to bring in this person?

🌟 LION Publishers has a fabulous job scorecard template to help plan out guard rails: (Public) LION Job Scorecard Template

🗣️ "I think that orgs just need to not lose sight of the fact that every single action taken, especially around people, needs to have a DEIB lens attached to it, constantly, rigorously. It takes time, someone on staff to do it who's paid.”

— Sara Shahriari, director of leadership & talent development at Institute for Nonprofit News

Doug Mitchell, the founder and project director of NPR Next Generation, said that the reporters in the program pitch their own story idea but within a framework or “theme.” Those chosen for the program will be paired 1:1 with a mentor and together, they will report and produce said story.

The reporters in the cohort are usually from the same geographic area, but he finds the diversity of their lived experiences contributes to a rich range of people and places covered.

This, he said, points to the benefits of a newsroom that values reporters’ lived experiences in their work and embeds DEIB principles throughout the workplace, not just during the hiring process.

"When it comes to making these processes stick, you need someone at the top saying, This publicly states the priority of our organization,” Mary Heisey, a freelance podcast producer, broadcast radio editor and co-creator of the Youth Media Starter Guide, said.

As a manager, it’s important to support employees as individuals with strengths, weaknesses and whole lives, not just what they bring to their specific job, Graham said. This is how you inspire loyalty, he said.

“Companies have to demonstrate what their values are through actions, not just statements or boilerplates,” said Kelly Barnett, assistant director, people and culture, for Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

🔎 Use American Press Institute’s Inclusion Index rubric to give your organization a score on where you might be doing well and where improvement could occur

This is true for hiring managers looking for folks in Colorado, California or New York. These states require the pay scale to be posted. You’ll likely need to follow these rules to hire folks from those states for remote positions.

🧰 Employing Interns Toolkit from Society for Human Resource Management

🗣️ “Explicitly state on job postings that you're encouraged to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the qualifications.”

— Mary Heisey, a freelance podcast producer, broadcast radio editor and co-creator of the Youth Media Starter Guide

Carefully consider which skills, experiences and qualifications are “required” and which should be listed as “preferred.”

Studies show that women and applicants from underrepresented groups often only apply for jobs for which they meet all requirements. Explicitly stating that some skills can be learned on the job will encourage a wider variety of applicants, as will stating that some applicants may bring unstated skills and experiences to the position.

“I think it would be a great idea for a newsroom (that’s) interested in doing this work to do an audit of their past job postings and ask, okay, I saw that we listed these as the requirements of the job — were they truly requirements?” Heisey said.

“Don’t oversell experience or education required,” Andy Alford, director of editorial recruitment, training and career development at The Texas Tribune, said.

Heisey agrees: “Rethink what counts as years of experience,” she said. “Schoolwork and volunteering are valuable exposure for journalists.”

And schoolwork might not mean traditional journalism work, either.

“I also think being explicitly welcoming people who are switching careers (is important) because I hear all the time from people of all ages, that they felt really discouraged if they didn't go to journalism school, or have a master's degree,” Alice Wilder, podcast producer/reporter, creator of the Starting Out newsletter, said.

Of course, there will likely be concrete requirements. For example, in a senior data reporter position, you may require them to have data reporting experience. But knowing a specific data analysis language might be a preferred skill rather than a required one if you’re able to teach the tool.

It’s important to consider whether job posting language about company “culture” is sending inclusive or exclusive messages.

“Job posting language is meant to bring people in, not screen them out,” Heyamoto said.

Importantly, this approach must go beyond recruitment. Hiring a journalist without needed skills requires the organizational capacity to teach and train on the job. The resources required to do this well should be factored into the budget. Similarly, calling your company culture “collaborative” in a job posting is only helpful when the work is collaborative.

Otherwise, the organization risks setting up new hires for failure in the position.

📊 A great guide on how to develop a job description, from Society for Human Resource Management

🗣️ "Unpaid internships are not going to get a lot of traction because there are enough that are paid that the students would rather go and do something for pay."

- Emily Hughes Corio, journalism & media program chair, teaching professor and internship coordinator at West Virginia University

The debate over unpaid internships in journalism is over.

If you can’t fund a 40-hour-per-week internship position, consider a part-time role with a robust hourly rate. Or pay college students as freelancers rather than interns. Work with your local college or university about a potential partnership to unlock scholarship money and consider working with national partners, such as EW Scripps or Dow Jones News Fund.

“I also firmly believe internships have to be paid because if you expect somebody to come work for you for the whole summer for free, where they've got to pay rent, you are taking a lot of people out of the picture who aren’t able to do that,” Sherry Chisenhall, retired editor & president of Charlotte Observer, said.

For-credit internships are generally not an option because students must pay tuition to receive credit. Instead, top internship and fellowship programs emphasizing equity should work to provide housing and moving assistance in addition to pay.

🗣️ “List responsibilities — is it too many duties for one position?”

— Sarah Bennett, journalism department chair and associate professor at Santa Ana College and advisor for El Don

Maybe your new hire needs to be a flexible asset for your organization. In that case, make clear the expected time percentage breakdown for each focus area and any support that may be available in this work.

For example, if you’re looking for a digital editor who’s in charge of managing social media, maintaining the website and editing stories, what’s the expected percentage of time for each role? What kind of support will the candidate have — such as a part-time copy editor, an intern to help with social media, a budget to hire a freelancer?

If you’re getting overwhelmed writing the position description, it may be a sign to consider shifting some of these responsibilities elsewhere.

🗣️ “Every newsroom is different, so those hiring managers really need to explore what's going to work for them and what will complement the people in that room and make them stronger.”

— Noah Cooper, senior content recruiter, TEGNA

Publish the job listing and be open to all who apply.

Porto said that everything, except enthusiasm, can be taught. Who’s showing their commitment? Who’s clearly done the research and has a vision? Who is teachable and has the commitment for the role?

Of course, candidates with backgrounds in the journalism field are great and have experience. But you don’t need to limit yourself to candidates in journalism, Heyamoto said. Other fields have complementary skills, such as communications, organizing, public policy, public planning, etc.

Skillsets matter more than formal titles, Porto said.

In the same vein, Noah Cooper recommends not to shy away from “unconventional” candidates who can bring relevant and helpful skills into the role. Some examples of “green flag” experiences:

Candidate Evaluation Form from SHRM

🗣️ "The pipeline is there and it's robust. It's less about hiring, in my opinion, than it is about retention."

— Larry Graham, founder/executive director, The Diversity Pledge

Focus less on short-term recruitment strategies and more on building relationships.

“Put in the work to develop relationships with organizations, conferences and more so you're more than just soliciting candidates from them,” Shahriari said.

Alford said taking a multipronged approach has worked best for her, including campus visits, especially to HBCUs and Hispanic-serving institutions, as well as annual career fairs and conferences. Making these routine creates opportunities to nurture deeper relationships.

As an example, you may like a candidate who just isn’t a fit for the opening you have. By maintaining that relationship, you’ll have a better sense of when that candidate is ready for an opening down the line.

Retention is often a bigger challenge than hiring in terms of building a diverse workforce, Graham said. In other words, how and why did the previous employee leave? What support may be needed for the new candidate to be successful?

📚 Sincerely, Leaders of Color: How to (not) ask for help finding applicants for your program or job by Angilee Shah

🗣️ “So much has to do with ‘where is the (early career journalist) from? What (are they) interested in doing?’ No two situations are alike.”

— Jim Rodenbush, director of student media — Indiana Daily Student, Arbutus yearbook — at Indiana University.

The interview is where you can be a journalist. This is an opportunity to get a sense of skill sets, of course, but also motivations and core values regarding the candidates’ work — what fuels them in their journalism work? And how will that fit into your mission? How do they view failure and what does success mean?

“As a former hiring manager in newsrooms, I listened a lot more than I asked questions,” Chuck Clark, director of Western Kentucky University student publications. “I also let there be silence. It's kind of like conducting a good interview with a newsmaker — you want to see where their mind is going to lead them.”

Cooper also said the interview is a great opportunity to talk about promotion-track positions with applicants. What kind of opportunity is there long-term? Or is this more of a mutual learning experience?

🔖 First, Do Not Scare: How to not lose promising employees during the interview process, from SHRM

🗣️ “A lot of folks want to see themselves in the hiring process.”

— Larry Graham, founder/executive director, The Diversity Pledge

Who do you have representing your organization? Do you have a mixture of folks in power versus peers who would be colleagues?

“I try to practice a three-person hiring rule — having at least three people, from other departments when feasible, have their own conversations with the candidate,” Horner said. “That gives additional perspective about the prospective hire and gives me additional insight in my decision-making.”

This might be the first time the candidates have experienced your organization: Who will they see?

Consider utilizing readers on a volunteer basis, opening up your hiring process to more of your staff or creating intentional time in the interview process to discuss your vision and why you’re trying to diversify your staff.

🗣️ “Hiring shouldn’t be done in your spare time. Have a timeline and tell candidates what it is.”

— Lisa Heyamoto, programming director, membership education, LION Publishers

Your organization’s hiring timeline could be very quick or extremely slow. Candidates won’t know what’s typical for your organization.

Graham said that hiring can be one of the most demoralizing experiences a person goes through. For the sake of your candidates, give them a concrete timeline, starting with dates in the job listing itself, and transparency and accountability throughout the process.

For example, hold yourself accountable by listing the week of first interviews on the job description; after folks apply, send an automated email thanking the candidate for their application and listing the milestone dates for the rest of the hiring process, including polite rejection emails if possible. If circumstances derail the timeline, be transparent about changes.

This creates a better experience for all candidates, especially those without a lot of timeline flexibility. It can also help retain candidates who would otherwise withdraw from with a long process. (If you’re in academia, this might want to be something to strongly consider.)

“Be considerate of the time you're asking of candidates,” Komp said. “If you can make the process smoother, you will attract a larger and more diverse candidate pool."

📧 Use our template for an automatic response email to a candidate upon submitting their application

🗣️ “I'm committing to you as an employer you're committing to me as an employee, and that letter is the expectation — There should be nothing squishy about that letter.”

— Marisa Porto, James L. Knight Chair in Local News and Sustainability, UNC-Chapel Hill

Don’t make the offer process harder than it needs to be. Make yourself open and available for questions or conversations after sending the offer out. Include a reasonable response deadline in addition to specifying any terms of employment, salary, benefits and the department/arm of the organization they’ll be employed by.

🗣️ “We're talking about really important things to be more inclusive and to be more equitable. Offering housing, or offering a stipend towards housing, helps to move the needle in that direction.”

— Kelly Barnett, assistant director, people and culture, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

The folks coming to your organization are in the middle of a large life transition. Especially if they’re moving a considerable distance away, they surely need help and advice on what to do when they get there.

A moving stipend will make your job more desirable. (There may be opportunities to partner with universities on housing assistance for interns.) A list of top neighborhoods or apartment complexes/housing areas where former interns or colleagues live will help them.

Not only is it nice and helpful, but it’s also a way to make your employee feel safer and more protected during a vulnerable stage in their life.

“Be aware interns or new hires are in a transitional period to ‘adult life’ — check in on them,” Rodenbush said.

🧳 Make a copy of our template as a guide for what may be a good resource for hires upon accepting your offer

🗣️ "Salary becomes secondary as long as an organization lines up with your values."

- Larry Graham, founder/executive director, The Diversity Pledge

It’s been mentioned throughout this guide, but it bears repeating — the day-to-day work environment goes a long way in keeping the hire you worked hard to find. You control how you treat and manage your employees, even when salaries are limited.

“People leave if they don’t feel connected in your organization,” Porto said.

CISLM’s burnout report, released in April 2023, found that, of burned-out journalists, most of them said they’d stay in their current role for more money. (Previous research from CISLM found that more than 40% of local journalists who responded to a survey in North Carolina earned less than $50,000 per year, which is the approximate threshold of the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center’s Living Income Standard for one adult and one child.)

But the second largest group said they would prefer management change and the third largest group, “Other,” were write-ins on how their job could improve to fit more in line with their expectations.

One respondent said “pay would be a step forward, but respect for our job would go a long way. Nobody feels appreciated in a newsroom.”

🤩 Five extremely useful templates on how you can center people in your organization from LION Publishers

🗣️ “Try to solicit feedback from candidates about the hiring process, especially ones you didn't hire.”

— Sherry Chisenhall, former president & editor of The Charlotte Observer

In addition to automated emails, make time for personal emails, phone calls or to schedule in-person meetings with candidates who made it deep into the process. You may want to hire them in the future and it gives them an opportunity to give you feedback. Try to build a reputation for having a respectful hiring process in which candidates know where they stand.

Create a feedback loop to improve your process by sending out a feedback form after the process is complete.

💬 Make a copy of our template for candidate experience survey feedback form, taken from Workable advice