Help wanted: Editor for AAJASeattle.org

Three years ago, AAJASeattle.org was re-launched on the WordPress platform. Happy birthday, AAJASeattle.org!

AAJA should be proud of this little website. It’s an important community resource in the online landscape of Pacific Northwest journalism sites. Don’t believe me? I too was shocked when a research study that came out at the 2010 Journalism That Matters conference put aajaseattle.org on the map – literally. Use the Zoom (+) button below and look at the center of the map.

Data visualization of the Pacific Northwest News Ecology, Jan 2010

Over the years, as the site’s founding editor, I’ve watched it grow and become a part of our chapter’s strategy for building community online and reaching out to members hungry for training, mentoring and jobs.

My vision for AAJASeattle.org was and still is a place for our members – especially students and freelancers – to post their profiles, share links to their stories and offer emerging, diverse journalists a platform to display their storytelling in new media (and maybe get constructive comments). I think it could realize that vision with a staff of three to five dedicated volunteers.

The chapter’s costs to keep the site up are minimal – a server hosting account and domain name – but the content our authors contribute is priceless.

The blog post items, which chronicle chapter news and turbulent times of our profession, come from members willing to donate their time. And sometimes we get photos and videos posted of chapter events.

With no advertising, no dedicated staff and sporadic blog posts, the site has attracted nearly 7,000 visits over the past year (yes, we track it using Google Analytics). We set up the site so that @aajaseattle sends out a tweet for every new post.

Now it’s time for a new editor with fresh ideas and energy to assume the duties and nurture the site’s evolution.

This is a great VOLUNTEER opportunity for anyone who hopes to be a web producer, blogger or site manager some day.

Skills you will develop as site editor:

Blogging about a community.

Recruiting and managing contributing writers.

Tracking and interpreting site analytics.

Managing the WordPress platform.

Skills we’d hope you have or are willing to learn if you want this gig:

Knowledge of basic HTML tags and how to tag content to improve search.

Knowledge of any blogging platform, i.e. WordPress, TypePad, Tumblr, Blogger.

Proficiency in editing copy.

Editorial judgment and basic understanding of libel, privacy and copyright.

The time commitment is minimal – an hour a week, perhaps – but you could spend more time if you want to create something cool. Definitely something to list on your resume when you apply for jobs at news websites.

If you’re interested in volunteering, please email Sanjay Bhatt, chapter president/aajaseattle.org editor, at sbhatt@seattletimes.com. Please write “AAJASeattle.org – Editor” in the subject line. Thanks!