Producer-in-Residence (PIR) | Multiple Locations

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 network affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network and Quest. TEGNA Marketing Solutions (TMS) offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, digital and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNA’s OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.

TEGNA’s Producer-in-Residence (PIR) program is now hiring the nation’s top entry-level journalists to join the largest and most successful news producer development program in the United States.

We’re looking for college seniors or graduate-level students graduating between December 2024 and June 2025 with degrees in journalism or related fields. We’ll also consider current news producers with fewer than two years of professional producing experience for television stations or digital journalism outlets.

PLEASE NOTE: These are on-site roles at our newsrooms in various locations across the United States.

Top program candidates will be:

• Exceptional writers who want to use their talents to seek truth and report it, prioritize context, hold the powerful accountable and serve the greater good of their communities
• Journalists who want to be behind-the-scenes, making real-time coverage decisions in control rooms during live newscasts or producing major news stories for our websites and streaming platforms
• News junkies who are always in-the-know and actively seek a wide array of perspectives and data points when consuming media
• Individuals with future leadership aspirations.
• Aspiring journalists who are actively involved with student media outlets – whether newspapers, digital publications, campus radio stations, television stations or something else.
• If you want to tell stories in a stale and boring way, this is not for you. We want candidates who will challenge traditional presentation styles and reach new audiences.
• Journalists who want to build trust with audiences by maintaining the highest standards of ethics and objectivity.

This program is not for:

• Journalists who want to be in front of the camera. If that’s you, search “multi-skilled journalist” jobs on our website. That’s what we call our reporters.
• Aspiring journalists who are looking to be in the field. In this program, most days will be inside one of our newsrooms.
• Those looking to pursue careers in film or entertainment. While we love movies and TV shows, this is a journalism-focused program that doesn’t lay the foundation for those paths.
• Individuals who want to pursue marketing or social media content creation paths. Though you’ll certainly learn some of those skills, there are other paths in TEGNA that are more aligned to those careers.

If you’ve read the above and think you’re a good fit, keep reading to learn about our interview process.

TEGNA reviews hundreds of applications each year. We identify top candidates and contact a limited number of them for interviews and timed writing assessments that evaluate their ability to write for our TV and digital platforms. If candidates move forward in the process, we will work to pair them with a Producer-in-Residence opening in one of more than 40 participating newsrooms nationwide.

Participants will be given a support system that includes a peer mentor, regular check-ins and consistent training.

Training begins June 23, 2025 (some earlier start dates available) when you arrive at your newsroom to begin two days of station onboarding followed by a six-day virtual TEGNA boot camp where you learn in-person from the best journalists in the company how our culture, mission and ethics produce the most innovative local journalism anywhere, regardless of platform. Then, you’ll hop off virtual training and get into hands-on training at your selected station where you begin a two-year contract learning how to produce content across every broadcast, digital and social platform TEGNA uses. The goal is to create the next great TEGNA content producer who can help the company transform content in the digital age while preparing you for promotion within two years into a regular producing role at any TEGNA station.

More than 80-percent of all PIRs signed since 2018 have earned a promotion. The program puts you on a path to continued promotion into larger producer and news management roles across the company. If you want to produce exciting content on any platform to make your community better and learn how to do it from the most innovative local news journalists around, then PIR is your dream job.

This is NOT an internship or fellowship. It’s a full-time job, just designed with training and coaching in mind.

Responsibilities

• Live and work in one of more than 40 selected TEGNA markets
• Learn how to produce news content across all broadcast, digital and social platforms TEGNA uses
• Provide consistent innovative ideas for telling stories, producing shows and creating captivating digital and social content
• Challenge traditional ways respectfully
• Attend virtual monthly PIR training

Requirements

• BA/BS in journalism or related field
• Experience in frequently writing original stories for college-level newscasts and/or digital news media
• Strong social media news presence with emphasis on posting innovative news content
• Internship or professional experience with media organizations preferred
• Knowledge of ENPS and Edius preferred

#SA1

Benefits: 

TEGNA offers comprehensive benefits designed to safeguard the physical, mental and financial health of our employees and their families. TEGNA offers two medical plan options for full and part-time employees through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, as well as access to dental and eye care coverage; fertility, surrogacy and adoption assistance; disability and life insurance.

Our 401(k) program offers full, part-time and temporary employees the opportunity to contribute 1% - 80% of their pay on a pre-tax basis to TEGNA’s 401(k). Contributions made up to the first 4% of pay are eligible for a 100% match from the company and are 100% vested from day one.

Regardless of participation in TEGNA medical plans, ALL employees and their eligible family members receive nine free virtual doctor’s appointments with a physician through Teladoc, and 12 free annual therapy sessions with a licensed clinician through Spring Health.

TEGNA offers a generous Paid Time Off (PTO) benefit as well as nine paid holidays per year. 

* Some jobs are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and thus some or all of the benefits described herein may not apply. For example, some newsroom bargaining unit employees receive health and retirement benefits under plans administered by the union.

EEO statement:

TEGNA Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, hiring and developing individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences to add to our collaborative culture. We value and consider applications from all qualified candidates without regard to actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, disability, medical condition, enrollment in college or vocational school, political affiliation, military or veteran status, citizenship status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. TEGNA will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law. If you are in need of an accommodation in order to submit your application, please email askhr@tegna.com 

Recruiting Fraud Alert:

To all candidates: your personal information and online safety are important to us. Only TEGNA Recruiters or Hiring Managers will reach out to you regarding consideration of your application or background.  Communications with TEGNA employees will either come from a TEGNA email address with a domain of tegna.com or one of our affiliate station domains.  

Recruiters or Hiring Managers will never request payments, ask for financial account information or sensitive information such as social security numbers. If you are unsure if a message is from TEGNA, please email askhr@tegna.com.