Global Voices Seeks NewsFrames Project Director

Global Voices seeks a Project Director to manage a new, two-year project with the working title of Global NewsFrames, and to support the Global Voices community to design and run research projects related to this work. This project, funded by Google’s Digital News Initiative, will create a digital toolset and editorial process for rapid analysis of online media frames and trends in the world’s media markets. This work, if successful, is likely to continue as an integral part of the Global Voices mission. We envision the toolset and associated staff to be a resource for the Global Voices community.

Media Cloud's Data Visualization Tools

Media Cloud's Data Visualization Tools

The NewsFrames project will support the creation of a dashboard for research on global conversations, news and citizen media. It will produce digests of popular, important and under-reported stories by country and topic/theme and stories based on the data and on real-world issues that result from the research.

To build this toolset and editorial process we will collaborate with Media Cloud, an open data research tool that explores complex quantitative and qualitative questions about online media by tracking some 260,000 mass and social media sources. Media Cloud is a joint project of MIT Media Lab and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. See summaries of the project here and here.

Global Voices is a global, virtual organization, supported by the paid and volunteer efforts of people on every continent. The Project Director must possess a wide range of professional and personal skills to help the project reach its potential as the leading international network for the development of successful and effective citizen media projects.

Early prototype of Global Voices NewsFrames dashboard, by Sands Fish, May 2016

Early prototype of Global Voices NewsFrames dashboard, by Sands Fish, May 2016

The Global Voices Project Director will be responsible for the following:

  • Oversee the design, development, launch and integration of the project
  • Work closely with Global Voices core team, editorial team and volunteer community ensure broad interest and incentives for project usefulness
  • Work with the core team to identify and hire the rest of the team working on this project
  • Articulate a clear vision for what the toolset could do to support Global Voices’ work, and refine that vision in collaboration with the GV community
  • Promote and represent the project through mass media, social media, and other public forums
  • Manage the information architecture design process for the project
  • Manage the technology design and implementation, working closely with Media Cloud and with the Global Voices core team
  • Collaborate on the development of the editorial process with editorial teams
  • Represent the project to the funder, including timely reporting based on the workplan
  • Working with the core team, build a business model for the successful rollout and future funding of the project
  • Identify and oversee outreach to partner organizations and clients who might want to work with or use the resulting stories

We seek a candidate with the following qualities:

  • Deep experience in citizen media projects, Internet and media projects and working with Internet-based communities
  • Ability to manage information technology development, working with and supporting coders, designers, information architects and social science researchers
  • Strong familiarity with digital media technology, blogging, social media, and tools used to protect speech rights on the Internet
  • Ability to support and manage distributed, virtual communities
  • Strong research and analytic skills
  • Experience working with data and databases
  • Strong project management skills
  • Familiarity with open source software and open content communities
  • Ability to work independently and to produce results in a timely manner
  • Able to travel extensively
  • Comfortable speaking in public forums, conferences and workshops

To work effectively with our community and on this project, we would prefer that candidates have some combination of the following:

  • Data science skills and experience
  • Coding skills are helpful but not mandatory
  • Professional editing, writing, and public speaking skills in English
  • Active bloggers or creators of online media
  • Multilingual, with fluency in English and at least one other language
  • Experience working in diverse, multicultural environments
  • Are strong communicators and facilitators
  • Experience living and working internationally, or have traveled extensively in the global south

The Project Director will report to the Global Voices Executive Director and Managing Director.

The ideal candidate must have a passionate commitment to the values and goals of Global Voices. She or he will be joining a well-established core team who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of the world. There is no geographic requirement associated with this position; Global Voices has no office or physical headquarters. Candidates must have access to broadband internet connectivity and be comfortable working in a wholly virtual environment. We strongly welcome candidates from outside North America and Western Europe, and encourage people currently contributing to the Global Voices project to apply.

The position is near full-time or full-time, but should be treated as a freelance contract.

Interested candidates should send a CV and letter of interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org by no later than June 20, 2016.

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