McClatchy is seeking a strategic, collaborative news leader to head one of the best newsrooms in America, the Lexington Herald-Leader, in one of the country’s most distinctive news environments.
As Executive Editor, the person in this role will work with a talented team of journalists to reach an ever-growing audience of readers in the heart of the Bluegrass, including Lexington, Central and Eastern Kentucky.
This hands-on leader should embrace and elevate the newsroom as the preeminent local media brand in the region, producing unique, audience-focused coverage consistent with McClatchy’s longstanding mission of independent, essential local news that serves the public. The Executive Editor will work to accelerate our digital transition, leveraging a high-impact newsroom into a sustainable news operation that produces accountability journalism, relevant service journalism and breaking news that is first and best on the most important issues to our local communities.
The successful candidate will be a talented news editor and a thoughtful leader, someone able to approach the role with creative, fresh ideas on how to serve a local and statewide audience, whether covering Lexington government, state politics or international brands like bourbon and the University of Kentucky Wildcats.
This leader must also be a hands-on editor who can work directly with reporters and reporting teams in a mid-sized newsroom environment, juggling multiple priorities while setting overall strategy and tone for a collaborative but driven news staff.
The leader should have a proven commitment to raising standards for diversity and inclusion both in news coverage and talent recruitment.
We are looking for a bold, accomplished leader with strong communication skills, a sense of urgency and perseverance, and someone who is capable of being the face and voice of the Herald-Leader in the community. The person in this position should be eager to collaborate with colleagues at all levels of the Herald-Leader organization and across McClatchy.
The candidate should possess the ability to move the needle on community engagement so that it ties directly to local audience growth. The editor should have a command of audience analytics and knowledge of the tactics that deliver results, as well as a commitment to continuous learning and a desire to experiment, iterate and adjust across platforms as the news environment dictates.
Requirements:
- At least 3 years of experience as a successful leader of a newsroom or large news team.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in journalism
- Experience working with news analytics to grow audience and drive subscriptions.
- Experience building successful teams and experimenting with purpose to better serve our local audiences.
- Experience as a multi-platform storyteller, with passion for the written word as well as visual journalism.
Core competencies:
- The proven ability to lead, inspire, and convey knowledge to others and to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues in managing change.
- Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills, including empathy and a superior ear for tone.
- Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, constantly evolving, and more outcome-oriented than task-oriented.
- The ability to articulate and reinforce standards for ethics and professional conduct as well as journalistic excellence.
- An interest in the science of readership and engagement and a zeal for understanding and using readership data to inform the editorial process.
- A focus on ensuring that our content and staffing represent the fullness of our community and the diversity of the people who live here.
- An interest in and aptitude for storytelling using a broad range of media, including the written word, video, photography, podcasts and other audio — and whatever comes next.
- The ability to solve problems, innovate and adapt in service of the primary goal, which is to produce quality journalism that reaches and engages readers and subscribers and has an impact.
- Entrepreneurial spirit focused on helping to identify and build new opportunities.
- Enthusiasm for helping to get philanthropic and community support for the journalism we produce
For more details click here.
