Job Title:  Live blog weekend reporters (freelance / casual)

Department: The Sun Online

Reports to: Live Coverage Editor  

We are: News UK is a company full of talented, dedicated and creative people. We are an ambitious and ever-growing organisation with a passion for storytelling, capturing moments, meaning and magic to make sense of the world. Our newspapers reach more than 30 million people each week and include The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. News UK is also home to Wireless, a leading UK and Irish media company boasting independent local and national radio stations including talkSPORT, VirginRadio, talkRADIO and Times Radio.

The Sun Online is the biggest mobile news brand in the UK - and still growing! - with a young, talented, diverse team who publish the best coverage of news, sport, TV and showbiz, lifestyle and family value.

Purpose of role: 

To produce, update and edit outstanding live blogs across a wide variety of subjects for The Sun Online.

Key accountabilities:

• Update live blogs with guidance from the Live Coverage Editor on weekday shifts.

• Assume overall responsibility for live blogs on night and weekend shifts - including updating headlines, reselling the story, launching new blogs, and monitoring traffic.

• Cover topics as diverse as breaking news & politics to live TV shows, major tech launches, showbiz news & the Royal Family.

• Explore all news angles, headlines and image possibilities to achieve maximum SEO and homepage readership, obsessing over analytics to keep traffic high at all times.

• Recognising and acting upon any potential legal issues and acting in accordance with the IPSO Code of Conduct

• Keen attention to detail and meticulous copy and fact-checking

• Encourage collaboration and support others, actively engaging with people in other teams and departments

• Willingness to work flexible hours over a seven-day rota pattern  

Key Skills and Experience:

• Wide knowledge of news, showbiz, current affairs and trends

• Good understanding and experience of adhering to SEO best practices

• Unflappable under pressure and delivers work at a consistently high standard

• Proactive and displays a willingness to take on any task

• Positive attitude and good team player

• Takes initiative in order to achieve desired results

• Self-starter, organised and a good problem-solver, able to eliminate obstacles through creative and adaptive approaches

• Experience working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams

• Can demonstrate an understanding of the The Sun brand, both print and digital

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Life at News

At News UK some of us work flexibly, in many different ways. We encourage you to talk to us about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to offer exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

We champion diversity and inclusion, we strive to maximise and encourage every individual’s potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through our Diversity Board, D&I  strategy & training, creating more diverse content and our intern and apprenticeship programmes.  We also have 8 employee-led networks; Cultural Diversity, News is Out, GenZ, Sustainability Champions, News for Parents, Women in Tech, News UK Christian Fellowship and we are awaiting the launch of our Women’s Steering Group. 

We take pride in looking after our amazing talent at News UK supporting the Health and Wellbeing of our staff. We offer private medical insurance covering pre-existing conditions, discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and run club classes, and a ‘Bikes for Work’ scheme, as well as offering opportunities for physio/massage, counselling and legal support. 

We want to ensure that everyone we meet has the opportunity to perform to their best when interviewing, so feel free to let us know, at any stage, whether you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and we will do our best to accommodate.