Local News Editor
The Charlotte Observer, is looking for a Local News Editor to help lead, coach and inspire our journalists. Our mission is exclusive, essential accountability reporting that serves our community, and this editor will be at the heart of our work conceiving and developing journalism toward that purpose.
The local news editor knows how to spot a great story and help a reporter go get it. This individual must have the highest journalism ethics and sound judgment and be a skilled story editor. This editor should be energized by coaching and collaborating with reporters, editors, visual journalists, other Carolinas newsrooms and McClatchy colleagues who support our journalism.
This individual must be a collaborative coach who is excited about helping our most experienced editors and reporters deliver “only in The Observer” journalism, and is also skilled at helping early career reporters master a beat, break news and develop deeper enterprise journalism.
The Observer is deeply committed to First Amendment values in our journalism and holding leaders and institutions accountable. The local news editor must be passionate about watchdog journalism and ensuring that government institutions conduct business in the open.
This leader needs to be a digital journalist at heart with a deep understanding of the digital news ecosystem and a firm understanding of how to reach digital readers through search, social media and other distribution channels.
The local news editor plays a crucial part in helping our news team put our readers at the center of everything we do.
This newsroom leader will:
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Lead, direct, collaborate with and coach colleagues throughout the newsroom to identify and land compelling journalism.
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Help shape everything from breaking news to long-form pieces in a way that engages readers.
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Use well-developed editing and writing skills and excellent news judgment to help identify the highest potential stories to pursue.
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Use metrics tools to help guide the direction of our journalism, as well as the ways we get it in front of readers.
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Work collaboratively with our news editing team in Charlotte and with regional editors to ensure we’re collaborating effectively across McClatchy’s southeast newsrooms.
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Articulate and reinforce standards for ethics and professional conduct as well as journalistic excellence and fairness.
The local news editor will have:
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Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to see a story.
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Strong editing, reporting, writing and social media skills. Excellent news judgment and journalism ethics and a deep appreciation for our watchdog role.
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An understanding of audience engagement, including comfort with analytics and understanding of effective SEO practices.
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The ability to lead, collaborate with and coach colleagues of varying experience levels.
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Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, constantly evolving and more outcome-oriented than task-oriented.
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Strong collaborative instincts and passion for teamwork.
Requirements - Education and knowledge:
- College degree required.
- Proven record of directing impactful journalism required.
- 3+ years of newsroom leadership preferred.