What you can do at the Daily Trojan

Undergraduate and graduate students of all academic concentrations are encouraged to apply to the Daily Trojan. Previous newspaper experience is helpful but not required for starting positions.

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Questions?

Email us: [email protected].

HOURS

Time commitments at the Daily Trojan vary between sections and positions, but can range from a few hours to 40 hours per week.

HONORARIUM

Depending on position, staff members are paid per piece published in the Daily Trojan or for time commitment. All staff are evaluated by the editors.

News

Oversees the production of the news section, including editing and creating page layouts. Hosts staff development workshops and maintains the cohesion of the section.

Creates the weekly pitch sheet and makes sure stories are taken in a timely manner to ensure deadlines are met.

Assists news editors in daily production using InDesign, WordPress, writing social captions and writing photo captions. An opportunity to learn more about news production.

Works with the editors to regularly produce stories pertaining to the beat topic. Beats vary from USG, Science/Technology, South Central, etc. See dailytrojan.com/news for the complete list.

Produces at least three stories a month. Addresses edits in a timely manner.

Oversees the production of the opinion section, including editing and creating page layouts. Reviews pitches to curate a broad range of topics and perspectives.

Assists opinion editors in daily production using InDesign and WordPress. An opportunity to learn more about news production.

Writes a biweekly opinion article within the realm of a specific theme or topic (e.g. urban planning, politics, mental health).

Pitches and writes opinion articles relevant to Los Angeles, University life and the USC community.

Arts & Entertainment

Oversees the production of the A&E section, schedules stories, edits articles and creates daily page layouts. Coordinates for press opportunities and works closely with writers to improve skills.

Assists A&E editors in daily production using InDesign and WordPress. An opportunity to learn more about new production.

Covers a specific topic within the A&E realm such as food, video games or literature bi-weekly. Takes deep dives into chosen topic.

Pitches and writes A&E articles relevant to USC or timely cultural phenomena in the A&E realm.

Sports

Oversees the production of the sports section, including editing and creating page layouts. Hosts staff meetings and reviews pitches. Helps writers improve skills and teaches them to properly engage and interact with SIDs and athletes.

Works closely with senior editors and as the semester progresses, learns to do many of the duties a senior editor has to do. Learns to do social caps and organize a weekly budget, as well as learning how to format stories on InDesign.

Writes a biweekly article relevant to the sports world; an opportunity to write about something other than just the usual previews or recaps.

Pitches and writes articles relevant to USC sports or sports in the Los Angeles area.

Features

Manages a small group of digital staff writers in assigning long-form, in-depth stories. Helps to infuse daily news content with feature stories that may incorporate informative graphics and special photography.

Pitches and produces stories as assigned across different topics.

Art & Design

Oversees the hiring process of new artists and cartoonists. Receives forms requesting art pieces from writers and editors, then assigns the requests for the artists to complete.

Responsible for fulfilling art requests (original work) submitted by writers and editors. Each artist will either choose or be assigned 1-2 art pieces a week to complete.

Responsible for fulfilling design requests, using a combination of photos and original work, submitted by writers and editors. Each designer will either choose or be assigned 1-2 art pieces a week to complete.

Copy

Ensures all content follows Daily Trojan and Associated Press style. Maintains and updates style guidelines for all sections. Gives the final copy edit on all stories before proofs. Manage all copy editors.

Takes three-hour shifts and works directly with the Chief Copy Editors to coordinate and oversee shifts with copy editors. Also responsible for being on-call to take breaking news, late shifts and helping to organize workshops for the general staff.

Photo

Coordinates with print section editors to ensure written content has accompanying photojournalism as needed. Assigns coverage, submits press credential requests for both print and photo journalists, edits images as needed and oversees the training and development of staff photographers.

Shoots news, sports and arts events as assigned.

DIGITAL ROLES

Online

Oversees the creation and maintenance of the Daily Trojan‘s online content, including but not limited to the WordPress website.

Assists the Online Editor in maintaining the Daily Trojan‘s online content. Creates engaging and cohesive online projects that supplement the Daily Trojan‘s print journalism, in collaboration with the Online Editor and Digital Managing Editor.

Podcast

Produces, scripts and edits podcasts to be published on the Daily Trojan website and podcast platforms.

Social

Responsible for facilitating pitching, creation, posting and management of the Daily Trojan‘s graphic design-based social media content for Instagram. Pitches and produces promotional content for print material, as well as social-exclusive material (infographics, live updates, etc.).

Responsible for facilitating pitching, creation, posting and management of short-form video for the Daily Trojan‘s Instagram and TikTok accounts. Pitches and produces promotional content for print material, as well as social-exclusive material (interviews, explainer videos, etc.).

Pitches and produces content for the Daily Trojan‘s Instagram or TikTok accounts.

INTERNAL ROLES

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Fosters an inclusive environment and challenging traditional ways of thought to better report on the communities at USC through internal surveys, workshops and community building.

Serves on a committee headed by the DEI Director

Outreach

Oversees external relationship-building efforts. Develops the Daily Trojan’s high school tutoring and mentorship program. Fosters engagement with Daily Trojan alumni and other college newspapers through communications and event planning.

Staff Development

Responsible for spearheading initiatives to improve the Daily Trojan staff’s skills and supporting the Daily Trojan’s outreach and recruitment efforts.

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