DC Radio: WAMU Reboots Newsroom

Against a backdrop of shrinking newsrooms around the country, WAMU 88.5 FM announced Wednesday the first stage of an ambitious plan to grow its news staff and strengthen its regional coverage.

WAMU’s reimagined newsroom will focus initially on five regional beats that are especially important to the Washington region:

• Transportation and Development
• Education and Inequality
• Race and Ethnicity
• Power and Influence
• Arts & Culture

Inspired by multiplatform news desks at NPR and organizations outside public media, the new beats will deliver in-depth reporting via broadcast, digital, on-demand, and social platforms.

“As the NPR station in the nation’s capital, we have a responsibility to be a leader in public radio journalism—both in the quality of our on-air work and in the inventiveness of our digital offerings,” says Andi McDaniel, Senior Director of Content and News. “In the coming months, listeners will hear greater consistency on our air, and they’ll see more appealing digital content on all of our platforms.”

The new coverage teams for these beats will include multimedia producers and editors who will drive topical coverage.

To deliver this coverage, WAMU has redesigned a number of existing positions, and will be hiring for seven new roles:

• A new Managing Editor of Digital will lead efforts to engage digital audiences
• Two new Desk Editors will drive the multi-platform beat teams
• A Live Events and Partnerships Producer will leverage WAMU content into in-person experiences
• An Editorial Project Manager will manage long-term reporting projects and new initiatives
• News Producers for All Things Considered and Morning Edition will report spot news and keep listeners abreast of news headlines

A search for an Editorial Director to lead WAMU’s regional news coverage is already underway. Multimedia Producer positions will open up this Fall.