The R Street Institute—a free-market think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with regional offices across the country—seeks a media relations director to help drive the organization’s relationships and engagement with the news media nationally and regionally. In conjunction with the Creative & Media Director, this position will craft and implement media strategies that will elevate our policy scholars and brand to ensure we are sought-after sources of information for reporters, editors and producers.
The role
The typical day at R Street will include, managing day-to-day engagement with the news media; helping to lead the rapid response to public policy angles in the news and working with our experts to seize those opportunities; pitching policy stories for journalists to write or finding scholars for them to interview; preparing organization spokespeople for interviews, and cultivating relationships with key journalists.
For this position, we are seeking a motivated leader eager to help build processes and products that connect our policy scholars and ideas directly with the media—and test them in real-time. The Media Relations Director will report to the Creative & Media Director as part of a growing team of communications and digital media professionals. If you want to help grow a collaborative and multifaceted organization working to promote pragmatic, positive policy solutions, this may be just the opportunity you need.
This is not an on-the-record position.
Key roles and responsibilities
- Help design media relations plans to connect R Street scholars with reporters and editors.
- Book interviews on radio, TV and podcasts.
- Manage R Street’s presence in tip sheets, newsletters, editorial boards and more.
- Craft editorial calendars for engaging regular news cycles with our policy expertise.
- Lead general media strategies with the Creative & Media Director around marquee policy products.
- Pitch exclusives and manage release windows for policy products with the communications and editorial teams.
- Build and maintain relationships with journalists, including inviting them to events and educating them about our work.
- Help craft talking points for high-level events and speaking opportunities.
- Ensure consistent messaging to journalists regarding our policy positions.
- Ideate a wide variety of policy materials for media audiences.
- Aid in crafting crisis response plans.
- Help edit and pitch opinion pieces.
- Write press releases, advisories, and more about upcoming R Street projects and accomplishments.
- Create and manage ongoing press lists.
- Marshal and coordinate R Street resources for media-related projects of all sizes.
Experience and skills
- At least 8 years of experience, either in media relations, communications, journalism or a mix.
- Excellent writing, editing and time management skills.
- High attention to detail.
- Ability to manage multiple projects, be responsive to internal and external audiences, and work collaboratively.
- Self-starter with a problem-solving attitude.
- Driven to communicate policy issues clearly and frequently to a variety of audiences.
- Passion for free markets and public policy.
- A sense of humour.