Position: News Editor
The New York Amsterdam News (AmNews), one of America’s oldest and most influential Black news organizations, is hiring a full time News Editor to join our rapidly growing editorial team. This is a hybrid position based in New York City that requires considerable attention to detail, personal initiative and a collaborative attitude. This role offers the successful candidate a unique opportunity: to work with a legacy Black owned news organization to support the essential work of protecting our democracy and informing our community.
The News Editor is one of our newsroom’s leaders, primarily responsible for our news coverage and who is essential to helping us grow and expand our reach and influence. The News Editor will report to the Executive Editor, overseeing our staff reporters and freelancers and will develop and assign breaking and enterprise stories and provide mentorship and guidance to our staff. The News Editor reviews and edits all our news stories and together with the Managing Editor and Executive Editor sets the agenda for each week’s issue.
The News Editor also plays a primary role of upholding and enforcing our editorial standards and policies and ensuring that all the content that appears on our website, in our print edition and in our social media meets those standards.
Additionally, the News Editor plays a primary role in the creation of each week’s print edition, in collaboration with the Managing and Executive Editors and the Production Designers. This includes, but is not limited to: providing input and making choices regarding the front page as well as article placement, headline writing and supervising design, page assignments and layout.
The News Editor is also an important conduit for feedback between our community, readership and our editorial team and is expected to engage with the public and represent the newspaper in public settings and will be instrumental in our ongoing digital and editorial transformation, positioning the AmNews as the nation’s most important Black media source.
The News Editor must have superior verbal and written communications skills.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Upholding our editorial standards and ensuring that all our news stories and other content meets our editorial standards
- Collaborating with other editors to decide what stories we publish and participating in the development and maintenance of an Editorial Calendar (including special issues)
- Conceiving and assigning (in collaboration with the Executive and Managing Editors), reviewing and editing news articles written by staff reporters and freelancers
- Together with the Executive and Managing Editors supervising our weekly print production cycle
- Developing and maintaining a budget for the news department
- Collaborating with the digital editor to decide what stories are placed where on the website and how they are promoted on social media and providing, on a daily basis, the Digital Editor with breaking news stories from wire and online sources that the Digital Editor can publish and republish
- Sourcing and identifying images/video and/or audio to accompany our articles
- Collaborating with other editors to conceive dynamic virtual events that serve the community, draws an audience, and generates income.
- Mentoring and supervising our news reporters, freelancers and interns, and meeting with them frequently and regularly (weekly or bi-weekly) to provide feedback on their work as well as to supervise their professional development.
- Identifying articles to submit for awards and assisting in the preparation of such submissions as well as assisting in the identification of grants and fellowships and assisting in the preparation of those applications
- Along with other members of Editorial leadership team the News Editor will help drive readership growth to both our digital and print editions via close attention to readership metrics
A strong candidate must have all of the following:
- 7+ years of experience in journalism, preferably with a background in covering the New York City region and/or Black and brown communities
- Experience in breaking news as well as enterprise journalism
- Superior verbal and written communication skills and a supportive and collaborative spirit
- Experience with virtual work environments (both technology, tools and personal skills) and the ability to work independently and remotely
The superior candidate also will also have many of the following:
- Experience as a newsroom leader, supervising freelancers and staff reporters
- Superior skills as a text based and breaking news editor and familiarity with AP style
- The ability to build newsroom and production processes and procedures
- Experience in mentoring and supporting staff reporters and freelancers
- A strong social media presence and experience in using social media to engage readers and promote your journalism
- Demonstrated ability to develop and manage staff reporters and freelancers
- Established professional relationships with the top newsmakers and community leaders and members who we cover
Compensation and Benefits for this position includes:
- Annual Salary $65,000
- 100% Employer Paid Health Care
- Paid Vacation +13 named holidays
- Generous Sick Leave/Personal Time
- Paid Maternity/Paternity Leave
- Transit Check Program
- Flexible Spending Plan
- 401K and pension
- Flexible Friday
This position is based in New York City and flexible work options are available.
To apply, send an email including a thoughtful cover letter which explains your background and the experience you will bring to this position and a resume as well as contact information for two references for whom you have worked or worked with in PDF format to blacklight@amsterdamnews.com with “News Editor” in the subject line.
No phone calls please and incomplete applications will not be considered.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, December 8th, 2023. We hope to hire as quickly as possible for a start date in February of 2024.
The New York Amsterdam News welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds. We offer equal opportunity in employment for all qualified persons and prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, disability unrelated to job requirements, genetic information, military service or other protected status.