Podcast Senior Scriptwriter

Summary: A daily news podcast seeks a Senior Scriptwriter. Position will be remote and offered as an Independent Contractor, with full-time employment status offered in the future. Range of compensation is $60K - $85K, with flexibility dependent on newsroom experience and ability. Year-end and spot bonuses possible. The Podcast: The Wright Report (TWR) launched in April of 2023 as a daily news podcast — with a mix of domestic and international news plus analysis and opinion. The podcast airs by 5AM Eastern, Monday through Friday, with occasional weekend specials. TWR is available on all major podcast platforms, plus Substack engagement for paid subscribers. The Reach: Circa 25K daily downloads, including 4K paid subscribers. The goal is to reach 40K daily downloads by Q4 of 2026, with 6K paid subscribers. A Senior Scriptwriter is vital to achieve those goals. The Style: The Host seeks to take complicated news — especially international news — and find ways to simplify, educate, and inform audiences with good storytelling and a focus on facts, reason, logic, and data. The tone of the podcast is smart but approachable. The Host likes to use everyday analogies to clarify and simplify. When the podcast is over, the goal is to leave listeners more deeply informed, enriched, and entertained. The Structure: The content is generally separated into segments or briefs, with each focused on critical facts and data related to a topic. That is followed by a clear declaration of pivoting to the Host's analysis and opinion. The Culture: As the Host expands and grows the podcast, he seeks a team that is loyal, professional, gracious, detail oriented, industrious, and humble. Personalities that fit best include: hard-chargers, logical, reasoned, mission-driven, witty, and appropriately irreverent. The Role: The Host seeks a Scriptwriter in an Independent Contractor capacity. Location is remote with occasional travel to Arizona and Oregon. Compensation range will be shared with candidates of interest, and will depend on scriptwriting experience and ability. There will be a Year-End & Spot bonuses based on revenue, demonstrated good attitude, strong work ethic, and value add to the podcast's growth. Time off includes federal holidays and those days coordinated in advance with Host. The Duties & Tasks:

• Write and edit a daily script of news and analysis, as identified and curated by the Host. The script must be written in the Host's style and voice.
• Research news events as needed, with a focus on answering the critical question: so what? In other words, why does a busy listener care about a particular piece of news? How does it impact their lives?
• Utilize diverse sourcing that includes mainstream outlets and appropriate niche outlets of varying editorial biases, with great care placed on understanding the bias of each and teasing out their opinions vs. facts/data.
• Document hyperlinks in the script regarding referenced news, data, or facts.
• Provide creative input as time and experience allow.

The Schedule: Duties and tasks are performed Sunday through Thursday. The following is a typical day…

• The Scriptwriter will review news from America and around the world in the morning / afternoon based on historical TWR coverage and likely listener interest.
• The Host will also review news and determine topics / general outline of the next day's episode; that'll be finished by 1:00pm Pacific Time (PT).
• The Host & the Scriptwriter will sync in a FaceTime call from circa 1pm - 1:45pm PT. The Host will relay the assorted stories / headlines and scope of what should be written. (Consideration of the Scriptwriter's suggested topics and analysis will be welcome as he/she becomes more acquainted with TWR standards / coverage.)
• The Scriptwriter will then write and edit the script from 1:45pm to 8:00pm PT. Generally, each day's script will be circa 16 pages / 3,000 words.
• Final product must be submitted to the Host no later than 8:00pm PT for final edits. Exceptions will be made for breaking news.
• Podcast will be recorded starting at 8:30pm PT and submitted to the Sound Tech by no later than 9:30pm PT.

The Next Steps: Applicants will be asked to listen to The Wright Report for circa one week prior to the first interview, along with reviewing important historical episodes. (https://www.nyhuiscreative.com/twr-historical-episodes) Applicants are also strongly encouraged to request a free Substack account to get daily transcripts of each episode, and review previous episodes. The Host will conduct First Interviews with qualified applicants of interest. Successful candidates will then participate in a Trial Run. The Trial Run: Applicants will be asked to conduct a Trial Run, writing a sample script of an episode based on the Host's provision of news and basic research. The goal is to give the Applicant a chance to understand the creative process, writing style, pace, & working with the Host. Equally, it'll give the Host a chance to assess both the Applicant and the script's quality. The Start Date: As soon as possible. Personal Note: I'm honored to have your interest in the position! I'm excited to collaborate with a long-term writing partner, building a podcast of great value and impact for my listeners. With luck, it will be you that joins me in that process! — Bryan Apply tot his job Apply To this Job