ASU, Scripps launch journalism career program

Arizona State University and the E.W. Scripps Co. have partnered to create a groundbreaking career initiative for recent graduates of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Scripps Cronkite Journalism Career Program will place top Cronkite graduates at KERO-TV, a Scripps station in Bakersfield, Calif., for six-month positions. At the end of the six-month period, they will have the opportunity to be hired for a permanent position at KERO or another Scripps station.  

The special six-month positions will run from January through June and July through December each year starting in 2013.

Up to four full-time positions, including producer, digital producer and multimedia journalist, are available. Prospective candidates must be recent or imminent Cronkite School graduates.  

“Scripps intends to harness the creative energy, skills and enthusiasm of recent ASU grads and channel it into shaping tomorrow’s storytellers and multimedia journalists,” said Brian Lawlor, senior vice president of the Scripps television division. “We firmly believe the Scripps Cronkite Journalism Career Program will attract serious consideration from top-of-their-class graduates who are hungry for that first job. We know the high caliber of journalists that ASU produces, and we are eager to welcome our first Sun Devil graduates to see what they can do for us at KERO.”

Cronkite dean Christopher Callahan said that the school is “thrilled with this new collaboration with Scripps, one of the nation’s leading news companies, and extremely thankful to Brian Lawlor and the innovative leaders at Scripps for making this a reality. This will be a powerful career development opportunity for some of our terrific new graduates while providing to Scripps young digital journalists who can help shape the future of our business.”