This application is for students attending The University of Southern Mississippi who are seeking a paid position or an internship for class credit with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center. If you are a non-USM student, please refer to our jobs page.
Role Description:
Visual content producers help bring the center’s journalism and media literacy work to life on social platforms. They manage and update the center’s accounts, create and schedule posts, and use analytics to refine strategy and expand reach. They also design graphics, edit short videos and write captions that engage audiences and support community storytelling.
They work closely with student reporters, photographers/videographers and producers to showcase content and promote projects across platforms. Visual content producers are expected to stay current on emerging tools and trends, experiment with formats that improve storytelling and respond to audiences through comments, messages and live updates.
This is real-world newsroom work that offers hands‑on experience in digital journalism and content creation while building a professional portfolio. Visual content producers are expected to work 20 hours per week during the semester.
Job Responsibilities:
Pitch one (1) original story idea by 12:00 p.m. each Thursday, including primary and secondary sourcing
Attend weekly editorial meetings, held virtually and in person in College Hall on USM’s Hattiesburg campus, Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
Manage and update the center’s social media accounts, creating, scheduling and publishing posts to promote journalism, media literacy and other center initiatives.
Monitor engagement and analytics to refine strategy, boost reach and test new tools, trends and formats for storytelling.
Produce multimedia content — including graphics, short videos and captions — and collaborate with student reporters, photographers/videographers and producers to share timely, engaging news.
Interact with audiences through comments, messages and live updates.
Assist with marketing the center and center content.
Other tasks as assigned.
About Us:
The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center is a student-powered newsroom at The University of Southern Mississippi, dedicated to reporting what matters in Southeast Mississippi’s underserved communities. We produce high-impact, professional journalism that’s published across the state — and train students to do the kind of work that are top stories in real-world newsrooms.
This role is ideal for students with experience in social media, digital storytelling and graphic design who want hands‑on practice shaping how audiences see and engage with local news. As a visual content producer, you’ll design polished graphics, edit short videos, craft captions and publish posts that showcase reporting and media literacy projects. You’ll also experiment with new tools and formats, track analytics to guide strategy, and help market the center’s work.
Your contributions will connect thousands of people across ten counties with timely, engaging stories, giving you professional credits and portfolio pieces that highlight your creativity and digital production skills.
