SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
Arabic and French Commissioning and Outreach Editor
Common Ground News Service
Based in Lebanon
Job Description/Announcement
Search for Common Ground's (SFCG) mission is to transform how individuals, organizations and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, we design and implement multifaceted programs that aim to resolve conflict and prevent violence. We seek to help conflicting parties to understand their differences and act on their commonalities.
The Common Ground News Service (CGNews) seeks to promote mutual understanding and offer hope, opportunities for dialogue and constructive suggestions that facilitate peaceful resolution of conflict. We distribute and promote 10 articles per week by local and international experts on the relationship between the West and Arab and Muslim communities (CGNews-Partners in Humanity) and on the Arab-Israeli conflict (CGNews-Middle East). Visit www.commongroundnews.org.
CGNews has had approximately 15,000 reprints in 1,600 media outlets in 6 languages, and has 28,000 individual email subscribers around the world. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services recently began distributing select CGNews articles to its media partners, which include 450 news outlets worldwide.
The Arabic and French Commissioning and Outreach Editor reports to the Managing Editor of CGNews-Partners in Humanity, who is based in Washington, DC.
Summary of Post
The position includes three categories of responsibilities:
1- Building strong relationships with op-ed editors
• Improving Arabic and French reprint results in the MENA region and the West - both quantitatively and qualitatively - through a systematic plan of outreach that wins over one key newspaper per market
• Deepening and monitoring existing CGNews editor relationships in both languages
2- Commissioning timely and top-quality op-eds
• Participating in the Rapid Response mechanism of CGNews-Partners in Humanity to help identify topical opportunities and commissioning accordingly
• Matching topic, author and style of an article commissioned in Arabic or French to a targeted newspaper/s for greater likelihood of success with outreach efforts
• Developing a list of quality and quick-turnaround writers in Arabic and French while expanding it constantly to facilitate commissioning over time
• Co-ordinating with part-time French editor based in Geneva on commissioning in French
3- Working effectively as part of a multi-location, multi-cultural team with English as base-language
• Overseeing the translation of articles commissioned in French and Arabic into English
• As part of the CGNews-Partners in Humanity editorial board, editing articles for a constructive and solution-oriented focus
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position-holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above objectives.
Skills & Experience
Essential
• Excellent French and Arabic language writing and editing skills
• At least three (3) years of experience in journalism/media, conflict resolution, political science, or social studies
• Bachelor’s degree in a related area required
• Excellent knowledge of Middle Eastern media
• Strong understanding of current debates and dynamics in Muslim-Western relations and familiarity with leading individuals and institutions in this field
• A keen interest in the written word and in international affairs
• Effective communicator at all levels and in all media
• Interest in/knowledge of conflict resolution and prevention
• Ability to manage multiple activities concurrently
• Highly organized and excellent attention to detail
• Highly motivated and energetic
• Computer skills
Desirable
• Knowledge of francophone European media
• Fluent language abilities in English
Contact
Please send a resume with full contact details and cover letter to Laurna Strikwerda at lstrikwerda@sfcg.org by 15 September 2009. We will respond to those we would like to follow up with by 30 September 2009.
31 August 2009
Spoofed and Confused
16 hours ago
