How to hire a news producer

How to hire a news producer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step news producer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a news producer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new news producer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a news producer do?

Post a news producer job for free, promote it for a fee

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your news producer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a news producer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect news producer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents news producer salaries for various positions.

   Type of News Producer	Description	Hourly rate
   News Producer	Producers and directors create motion pictures, television shows, live theater, commercials, and other performing arts productions. They interpret a writer’s script to entertain or inform an audience.	$18-36
   Camera Operator	A camera operator is responsible for operating various technical equipment to support technical operations, such as media productions and live events. Camera operators must have extensive knowledge of different camera features to select the appropriate device and manage the production's overall visual presentation... Show more	$12-35
   Photo Editor	Photo Editors are employees in the creatives or marketing department of the company. They handle photos used by the company for its marketing collaterals, social media posts, or publishing... Show more	$18-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Assignment Desk
   • Control Room
   • Story Development
   • Social Media Sites
   • Local News
   • ABC
   • News Coverage
   • Facebook
   • Twitter
   • Video Editors
   • News Content
   • Morning News
   • Booking
   • Live Broadcasts

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage day-to-day completion activities including project planning and QA testing.
   • Produce daily local traffic reports for distribution to local radio and TV stations.
   • Produce TV documentaries that feature issues relate to sociology, psychology, and advertising.
   • Post news articles and web polls to WRGB s website, and update Facebook page.
   • Produce live and record newscasts on ABC and NBC, cut and edit video for newscasts.
   • Post stories and shows to WBAA website and promote through on-air announcements, Facebook posts, and tweets.

   More news producer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your news producer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A news producer salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, news producers' average salary in maine is 52% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level news producers earn 48% less than senior-level news producers.
   • Certifications. A news producer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a news producer's salary.

   Average news producer salary

   $54,608yearly

   $26.25 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level news producer salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average news producer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$81,520	$39
   2	District of Columbia	$77,150	$37
   3	Georgia	$70,987	$34
   4	California	$67,386	$32
   5	North Dakota	$61,494	$30
   6	West Virginia	$58,267	$28
   7	North Carolina	$55,999	$27
   8	Maryland	$55,545	$27
   9	Virginia	$52,886	$25
   10	Kentucky	$51,760	$25
   11	Minnesota	$51,418	$25
   12	Illinois	$50,390	$24
   13	Rhode Island	$50,302	$24
   14	Colorado	$50,291	$24
   15	Oregon	$48,327	$23
   16	Texas	$47,312	$23
   17	Nevada	$46,615	$22
   18	Pennsylvania	$46,306	$22
   19	Arkansas	$45,083	$22
   20	Florida	$44,752	$22

   Average news producer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	The New York Times Company	$106,435	$51.17	29
   2	Altice USA	$103,806	$49.91
   3	Amazon	$97,867	$47.05	50
   4	Audacy	$87,598	$42.11	53
   5	Fox News	$87,004	$41.83
   6	WFMZ	$69,579	$33.45
   7	Gray Television	$69,160	$33.25	161
   8	NBCUniversal	$66,101	$31.78	123
   9	UCB	$62,890	$30.24
   10	Nexstar Media Group	$61,511	$29.57	204
   11	WMSN FOX 47 News, Madison	$59,936	$28.82	117
   12	WarnerMedia	$58,001	$27.89	1
   13	Paramount	$57,804	$27.79	54
   14	The E.W. Scripps Company	$57,802	$27.79	27
   15	Sinclair Broadcast Group	$57,423	$27.61	152
   16	American University	$57,411	$27.60
   17	TEGNA	$56,554	$27.19	41
   18	Univision Communications	$56,244	$27.04	19
   19	Boston University	$55,748	$26.80	3
   20	American Public Media Group	$50,587	$24.32	3

4. Writing a news producer job description

   A news producer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a news producer job description:

   News producer job description example

   KABB/WOAI has an immediate opening for a creative Associate News Producer! In this role, you will be responsible for assisting the day-to-day production of our newscasts. This position will also work closely with News Producers, the Executive Producer and other newsroom members, as well as be trained to occasionally fill in for producers.
   The ideal candidate will:
   
   * Have solid news judgment
   * Be a compelling writer
   * Be able to multitask and manage time
   * Be able to be in a fast paced and deadline driven environment
   * Have strong communication skills and be able to troubleshoot
   
   Qualifications:
   
   * Bachelor's degree in a related field preferred
   * Be able to work a varied schedule including weekends and holidays.
   
   Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and Drug Free Workplace!
   
   About Us
   
   Make your mark in Media with Sinclair Broadcast Group, a diversified media company dedicated to connecting people with content everywhere! We have consistently led the broadcast industry since our inception, and now Sinclair owns the largest regional sports network business and one of the largest television broadcast portfolios in the country. In addition, we have affiliations with all of the major broadcast networks, own Tennis Channel, and several multicast networks including TBD and Comet. Our content is distributed over-the-air, on multi-video providers, and through our industry-leading digital media platforms. We also recently launched a free TV streaming service called STIRR. Our success is the direct result of our extraordinary employees and management team who believe in our vision and are dedicated to ensuring a great future for our employees. We are advancing the world of Media and want YOU to join our winning team!
   
   About the Team
   
   The life-blood of our organization is our people. We have a compelling story, a goal-oriented culture, and we take really good care of people. How good? Here is a glimpse: great benefits, open door policy, upward mobility and a strong desire to see you succeed. Ready to be part of a winning team? Let's talk.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find news producers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your news producer job on Zippia to find and recruit news producer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit news producers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new news producer

   Once you've decided on a perfect news producer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new news producer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a news producer?