Media Relations Mavens: Please come work for the American Constitution Society
Liz Rose
he American Constitution Society (ACS) believes that law should be a force to improve the lives of all people. ACS works for positive change by shaping debate on vitally important legal and constitutional issues through development and promotion of high-impact ideas to opinion leaders and the media; by building networks of lawyers, law students, judges and policymakers dedicated to those ideas; and by countering the activist conservative legal movement that has sought to erode our enduring constitutional values. By bringing together powerful, relevant ideas and passionate, talented people, ACS makes a difference in the constitutional, legal and public policy debates that shape our democracy.
Reporting to the Vice President of Communications, the Director of Strategic Media Outreach will work with the communications team and appropriate departments to craft and implement strategic media relations plans to garner coverage for ACS, its programs, and its spokespeople. The Director will oversee all media relations staff and be responsible for managing and maintaining all internal system related to media relations outreach.
Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
- Draft, develop and execute media relations strategies and plans to support ACS long- and short-term strategic goals.
- Work with VP of Communications and staff from other departments to help develop and coordinate effective messages and communications vehicles to strategically promote ACS’ campaigns, programs, and products to the media.
- Develop comprehensive plans for promoting ACS spokespeople to the media, especially ACS’ president.
- Cultivate and develop new press contacts and manage relationships with members of the media who cover ACS’ issues and pitch story ideas to journalists and editors.
- Efficiently lead and manage editorial and production process for the delivery of high-quality, effective print, electronic, web, audio, and video communications developed for media outreach.
- Plan and manage press conferences, media calls and other events to promote ACS campaigns, programs, and products.
- Monitor media calls and fulfill journalist requests for information and be on-call for media requests particularly in emergencies or special circumstances (may include after office hours).
- Assist digital team in the management of ACS’ web, social media, and blog presence.
- Track media coverage, provide media reports, and maintain press lists of media contacts.
- Manage media relations staff and oversees upkeep and implement of all media relations systems, including interactions with outside vendors.
We are looking for a combination of the following qualifications and experience:
- Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of six years of experience in managing a media relations team. Experience working on nonprofit legal and policy issues preferred. Campaign and/or advocacy experience a plus.
- Demonstrated capacity to develop and maintain journalist relationships. Existing media contacts a plus.
- Strategic messaging background.
- Experience coordinating media strategy with digital teams.
- Ability to thrive in a high-performing and highly collaborative environment.
- Excellent writing and editing skills and a superior command of English grammar and punctuation.
- Proven success with managing multiple projects simultaneously.
- Flexible, organized, and highly responsive.
- Demonstrated commitment to organization mission and progressive causes.
- Sense of humor.
Interested parties should send a thoughtful cover letter and resume to in...@acslaw.org, Please include the job title you are applying for in the subject line. We will review all submissions and reach out to those candidates who best match our needs. No calls please.
(I am not the person hiring for this but I do know about the operation and am a consultant for ACS so if you have questions and want to ask me, I'll give it a shot. ACS is very collaborative and they want to up their media relations game, and promote their president Caroline Fredrickson more so I would love to see someone smart and strong and creative in this role. Also they need help ASAP so if someone is available that would be a good quality and might help make up for not having the exact right experience.)