Graduate Assistant Media Relations

Department:  Office of Media Relations

Position Title: Graduate Assistant for the Office of Media Relations

Description of Services Provided by the Department:   The Office of Media Relations at St. John’s University works with the media for the purpose of informing the public of our mission, superior academics, global footprint, faculty expertise, student success and our overall practices in a positive, consistent, and credible manner. We coordinate directly with print, internet, television, and radio journalists in an effort to assist them in producing news and feature stories and various content about the University. The members of the staff from the Office of Media Relations are the only people authorized to speak on behalf of the University in an official capacity.

Description of the student learning experience: The learning experience will be aligned to the student’s major

This position reports directly to the Director of Media Relations. This person should be an outgoing, energetic, and creative student who is a clear self-starter. The ideal candidate should want to develop skills and training in the field of public relations, media relations, marketing, broadcast, or print journalism. The graduate assistant will also have the opportunity to promote events and work with the media in a fast-paced environment. The Graduate Assistant will gain a wealth of real-world experience that can be applied to the business world. 

Major Activities GA will be involved in and evaluated on:

1.     The ideal candidate will have a passion for news, social media, and a keen awareness of what’s in the news in order to promote faculty expertise; skills at using all social media platforms a must. The Office of Media Relations seeks to promote faculty expertise on a weekly basis on our website.

2.    Writing is a large component of this role and attention to detail is a must. The candidate is expected to not only write press releases and media alerts, but also fact-check and proofread other writing output. Knowledge of proper grammar and punctuation a must.

3.    The role requires someone who is acutely aware of anything timely unfolding in the media; as previously mentioned, a self-starter who can pitch original story ideas to the Director of Media Relations, on a regular basis. The candidate will also be asked to develop direct relationships with reporters to pitch stories over the phone, to follow up on press releases and media alerts.

4.    Because writing, proofing, and editing are required for this role, the Office of Media Relations would welcome the opportunity to see writing samples.

Qualifications:

·         Applicants must be pursuing a graduate degree in communications, marketing, advertising, or a related field.

·         Completed a bachelor’s degree form an accredited college or university with a major in Print or Broadcast Journalism, English, Public Relations or Marketing …

·         Required experience in previous internship in a related field (a plus), active as an undergraduate on either the school newspaper or related clubs/activities.

Compensation:

·         Stipend in the amount of $4000

·         Tuition Remission 

Dates of Assistantship:

·         Start date will be one week before Fall 2024 and end date one week after Spring 2025 by Academic Year

·         Hours per week 20 

·         Need to be available one week before and one week after beginning/end of semester.

Contact Person to receive resumes:  Diane Blascovich: blascovd@stjohns.edu