Service journalism editor

Company: McClatchy
Location: Charlotte
Posted on: November 22, 2021

Job Description:

The Charlotte Observer, one of the leading local news organizations in the Southeast, is looking for a collaborative, audience-focused editor to build our new service journalism team, whose mission is to help readers navigate life in Charlotte and the surrounding area and understand how the news of the day affects them.
This editor's priority is to help ensure our content is useful and essential and that we are meeting our readers' curiosity and informational needs. Experience with audience growth tactics such as headline writing, SEO and social media and newsletter distribution is a must.
The team will use tools such as Google Trends to surface and answer questions readers are asking in the moment, will write stories that help readers connect with the news and will create and manage a library of search-friendly evergreen content.
The ability to collaborate is a must, as this editor and their team will work with colleagues across the newsroom and with McClatchy's news analytics and audience teams to create and evangelize audience-focused service journalism.
Expertise in a particular subject area is not required, but the successful candidate will bring a deep understanding of what's important to local readers, preferably earned by working as part of an audience or engagement team at a local news outlet.
Key tasks include:

• 
  
• Daily execution of audience-focused utility strategy, fueled by a team of reporters working across multiple storytelling platforms.
  
• Coordinate story assignments, in collaboration with newsroom editors, informed by local search data, social conversations and engagement journalism.
  
• Develop and execute creative ways to deliver community stories that matter into the hands of those who need it most.
  
• Help to build social media campaigns, and perform other digital engagement duties as needed to amplify the content created by the high-utility team.
  
• Data reporting experience and ability to work with data visualization tools is a plus
  
• Editing, reporting and writing required.
  
  Qualifications:
  
  • 
    
  • Candidates must have strong writing, editing and visuals skills.
    
  • Familiar with a variety of storytelling approaches, including social, alt-form writing, video and audio.
    
  • Experience with identifying audience-focused strategies, including with Google Trends, headline writing, SEO, social media and newsletters.
    
  • Dedication to experimentation informed by analytics
    
  • Ability to lead a team with urgency and empathy.
    
  • Strong collaborative instincts and a love of teamwork.
    
  • Excellent news judgment and journalism ethics.
    
    Skills needed:
    
    • 
      
    • Experience with audience tools such as Google Trends.
      
    • Ability to understand audience metrics and the tactics that move them.
      
    • Ability to lead an audience-focused team with urgency and empathy.
      
    • Passion for the written word as well as video, audio and motion graphics.
      
    • A track record of experimenting and iterating, quickly and often.
      
    • Strong word editing and organizational skills.
      
    • Excellent news judgment and journalism ethics.
      
    • Strong collaborative instincts and a love of teamwork.
      
    • Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving.
      
      Education/experience
      
      • 
        
      • Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in journalism
        
      • At least 5 years of experience as an editor
        
        When Applying: Please include samples of your work or a link to your online portfolio
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Keywords: McClatchy, Charlotte , Service journalism editor, Advertising , Charlotte, North Carolina