News Editor, Washington and Politics
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world's population sees AP journalism every day.
The Associated Press seeks an innovative editor and leader with proven news judgement to help lead our digital coverage of Washington, politics and campaigns, and the federal government. We’re looking for someone to be based in Washington who has experience with site curation, social and newsletters; someone who has demonstrable expertise in editing content; and someone who is well-versed in the nuances and complexities of covering politics.
Responsibilities: Based in Washington, you will report to the director of global audience engagement and curation. In this role, you will:
select, curate and promote the best political content that AP has to offer – be it text, photo, video, audio or interactives.
be an advocate for AP’s digital platforms in our Washington bureau and vice versa.
help shepherd new design sprints to create digital storytelling tools to enhance engagement.
work with colleagues on the Washington News team to craft well-designed presentations, context-informative modules, and digital-first story ideas.
Qualifications: We’re looking for a collaborative journalist with at least three years of professional experience who understands the digital media landscape and the story of politics and government in America. Of course, you’ll have a great news sense and know how to highlight the stories people want to share and talk about. But you’re also an editor who understands the value of data, and you know how to balance insight and instinct to achieve key KPIs.
This is a position that calls for someone who is calm under pressure and comfortable altering the best-laid plans when news dictates. You have the editorial ingenuity to identify angles that will resonate with a digital audience and can offer high-level editing guidance to ensure we are creating that content.
You are also a capable administrator who can keep the workload manageable and the projects running on time. As an AP journalist, you should also be able and willing to work at night and on weekends as coverage and breaking news demand.
To achieve these goals, you are adept at:
Evaluating, and acting on, traffic trends on both daily content needs and, in concert with the team, longer-term content curation that will grow digital audiences.
Prioritizing packaging content that grows pages per session and time-on-site and using smart headlines to guide readers further into the site.
Coordinating with journalists in different formats and time zones to design engaging story presentations that draw on the strengths of each format.
Implementing an iterative design process to produce digital storytelling tools.
We will consider strong candidates who do not meet every listed qualification. You may use a cover letter to describe the unique qualifications you would bring to this role.
Other qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, such as at least three years of full-time work as an editor, reporter or social media producer at a daily newspaper, broadcast station, online or digital news outlet or AP bureau.
All applicants must be able to work in the United States or be able to gain permission to do so.
Advanced-level professional competency in written and spoken English. Professional competency in a language besides English is a plus.
We will consider strong candidates who do not meet every listed qualification. You may use a cover letter to describe the unique qualifications you would bring to this role.
Application deadline is 11:59pm EST on October 18, 2023.