Employment
The Daily Texan accepts applications the first three weeks of every semester. If you'd like to meet the team or tour the office, don't hesitate to set up a time by email. Our office is located in the basement of the HSM building, near the Cronkite Plaza and the CMA building. Questions? Email managing editor Amy Zhang at [email protected].
Click here to fill out the interest form for Spring 2016 tryouts. We will have two info sessions — the first on Thursday, Jan. 21, and the second on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Both info sessions will be in BUR 136 at 5 p.m., and will involve an explanation of our departments and the work we do, in addition to a tour of the office.
For a description of each of the Texan's departments, scroll down.
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News
- The news department covers student issues on campus, UT policy, the UT administration, legislation affecting the University, city policy affecting UT, crime on campus and much more. No experience required.
Life & Arts
- Life & Arts features content ranging from profiles of campus "characters" to local interests and oddities. The department also runs coverage of local festivals such as South By Southwest and Austin City Limits. The department also features weekly online album, movie and book reviews, as well as recurring columns. No experience required.
Sports
- The sports department is responsible for reporting on athletics at The University of Texas. Though the sports department’s primary focus is Texas athletics, writers also cover local and professional sports and write weekly online columns about a variety of issues in the sports world. No experience required.
Opinion
- The opinion department includes columnists, cartoonists and editors who work to contribute and solicit columns from the community. The department’s work serves a dual purpose: to reflect, and further inform, the opinions of the University community. No experience required.
Special Ventures
- The special ventures department is focused on in-depth, long-term investigations which typically entail special attention to photos, videos, interactives and infographics. Examples of issues the department has focused on in the past are UT's race-inclusive admissions policy and the UT System's oil revenues. No experience required.
Science & Technology
- A new addition for spring 2016, the science & technology department focuses on reporting notable research at the University of Texas and the Austin area. The department will connect Daily Texan readers to science they can enjoy and use. No experience required.
Copy
- Staff copy editors are responsible for fact-checking stories from all departments and reading for AP style. Copy staff work to strengthen content across all departments and gain skills in writing headlines and editing. No experience required, though familiarity with AP style is a plus.
Design
- The design department makes note of all stories and art for each print issue of The Daily Texan, and then lays out the pages each night. Page designers work one night a week either on the sports section or on life & arts. Staff members are also responsible for graphics and sidebars. The department often works on special design projects such as in-depth packages and special issues. No experience required, though familiarity with InDesign is a plus.
Photo
- Photographers capture visual content to supplement news, sports and life & arts stories on a daily basis. They also have the opportunity to work on long term multimedia projects independent from other departments and produce photo spreads, online slideshows and blog posts. No experience required, though familiarity with camera settings is a plus. Tryouts will be required to have access to their own equipment for the tryout period.
Video
- The video department serves the duel roles of creating video components of print stories alongside reporters, while also tackling separate stand-alone projects. This area of the paper exists to communicate stories that matter through online media, whether it's creating interactive video projects on local politics or covering the waves of emotion that flow from Fun Fun Fun Fest. Apply to the multimedia-video department to create exciting content to bolster The Texan's increasingly important online presence. Tryouts will be required to independently film and edit a video, with advice and coaching from the video editor.
Podcast
- Providing a weekly summary/analysis of Daily Texan content across departments and UT Austin-related news through an online podcast. No experience required, but experience with audio editing software and or broadcast journalism is a plus.
Comics
- The comics department focuses primarily on the daily comics, filling the section with new, original content produced by the comics artists. Artists' work may include comics for the printed page or animations for the Daily Texan website. The department also provides other departments, such as news, opinion and life & arts with illustrations to accompany their stories. All artists and animators welcome.
Technical Operations
- Members of the technical operations team will have the opportunity to maintain and support The Daily Texan's website in order to create a more workable platform that better reflects the state of today's news organizations' online presences. Team members' work will directly benefit all of the Texan's staffers as well as its readers by helping set the stage for more online interactive features and an overall more cohesive website. Team members will have the opportunity to be creative and suggest new content and pages. We ask that applicants have familiarity with basic concepts such as functions, classes, and databases. Knowledge of PHP, CSS, HTML, Javascript, jQuery and Python is a plus but is not required.
Social Media
- The social media team works to coordinate the various Texan social media accounts to maximize the organization's outreach. It works with The Daily Texan's main Twitter account — which boasts the second largest following among all college media — and uses analytics to track the success of its strategies, in addition to managing the Texan's Facebook account. No analytics experience required.
