Community News and Outreach Editor

The Democrat and Chronicle/democratandchronicle.com, of the USA TODAY NETWORK is looking for a Community News and Outreach Editor to turbocharge our delivery of quick-turn content of interest and relevance to diverse and fast-growing portions of the local population in neighborhoods like the Rochester’s 19th Ward, home to people and families with an array of backgrounds and incomes.

This editor will guide reporters and photographers to focus on at least one story per day focusing on small businesses, popular local events, interesting people, food, family, culture and neighborhood kerfuffles, all with the objective of attracting and retaining large numbers of new readers.

The Community News and Outreach Editor also facilitates our journalists’ presence in the community, ranging from our “tabling” at significant events to fostering listening and even volunteer opportunities locally.

This editor is a newsroom leader who will ensure that story-development processes, content choices, community engagement and hiring practices enable our operation to expand its audience by serving and engaging with Greater Rochester’s substantial diverse audiences, including a growing number of residents of Puerto Rican heritage.

Responsibilities

The core mission of this editor is to coach, mentor, guide and edit reporters who have a passion for telling quick-turn stories that interest and serve our audiences in their day-to-day lives.
Across the news staff, this editor guides and supports conversation in news and planning discussions to ensure representation of diverse voices and content and of multicultural perspectives.
Help focus much coverage so that it is close to readers’ lives – their families, their neighborhood, their livelihood, their meals, their traditions, their culture and their opportunities.
Call attention to neighborhood issues where our coverage can serve as a catalyst for positive change, focusing, for instance, on neighbors’ efforts to have speed bumps installed on a street with fast-moving cars.
Provide editing and guidance ensuring a steady stream of impactful quick-turn, tightly written, easily scannable stories and social media posts that will both bring in new audiences seeing their communities and identities represented in coverage, and also serve readers with whom they interact or share common interests (community safety, retail shopping etc).
Manage a calendar of holidays and traditions and community events to ensure timely, compelling coverage, weekdays or weekends.
Work with other editors, front-line journalists and the administrative assistant to plan and manage staff participation in community events, whether they be large community festivals, neighborhood gatherings or public forums where our journalists can listen, observe and interact with local residents.
Plan for live coverage and photo galleries and social media posts (particularly on Instagram) as appropriate.
Arrange, when appropriate and of interest to our journalists, an occasional volunteering opportunity connecting us better to Greater Rochester residents.
Work with content strategy analyst and the staff to measure the volume and audience and impact of the content they foster.
This leader is deeply involved in recruiting, helping build pipelines of diverse local talent flowing into the newsroom through local high school connections, college internship hosting and mentoring of journalists.
Foster conversations with organizations and community members, seeking story ideas and sometimes partnerships.
Work with the entire staff, planners and producers to ensure fairness and sensitivity and cultural competence in headlines, stories, social media posts and video.

Requirements And Skills

Bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least 5-6 years of experience with digital delivery of news and information in roles such as editor, reporter, videographer and producer.
Command of media law and principles of ethical conduct.
Sharp news judgment.
Writing, spelling, grammar, AP, and local style.
Strong planning and organizational skills.
Expert knowledge of analytics and other tools to measure digital audience reach and impact.
Self-motivation and self-direction and work collaboratively within a cross-functional environment.
Effective communication skills; ability to get along with diverse personalities.
Must embrace peer-to-peer feedback and training.
Ability to multitask and excel under deadline pressure in a rapidly changing news environment.
Readiness to apply innovative, creative thinking to support the company’s goals.

Application Instructions

We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. When you apply, don’t limit your upload to a resume; show us what you’ve done. To do so, put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order:

Your resume – one to two pages.
A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job.
Links to 3-6 online samples of your work. Show us what you’ve produced or had a hand in that best reflects what you can do in your desired role.

It is important that these items be assembled into a single document and uploaded in PDF format. Completing these steps will ensure that your application receives the highest consideration.

#Newsgnt

The annualized base salary for this role will range between $51,300 and $105,000.  Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications and experience. Note: variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable.