Nebraska’s largest metro area, home to a vibrant and culturally diverse news market, is looking for its next top newsroom leader. The Omaha World-Herald is seeking an experienced and innovative editor who pursues journalism of significance – with a strong emphasis on breaking news, business, food, public safety and a massive college sports audience – and is able to use digital readership analytics as a strong compass for guiding news staffing and strategy. This position will also play a key role in coordinating the overall news strategy for Lee Enterprises’ 10 daily newsrooms in the state.
The opportunity :
The Omaha World Herald is looking for an outstanding Executive Editor who can reimagine the future of news coverage in ways that captivate and engage readers and audiences on emerging platforms and who keeps a close watch on digital reader trends and habits. The successful candidate will be highly driven to grow our digital subscriptions by pursuing the most relevant, high-impact and high-interest content.
We are seeking a transformational and experienced news leader to drive high-impact watchdog journalism focused on penetrating local coverage. The Executive Editor will embrace the chance to grow a diverse newsroom as well as expand the diversity of its coverage to reflect the communities it serves. This hands-on leader must be an excellent coach, mentor and recruiter to strengthen the skills of a talented news staff.
Candidate profile:
The ideal candidate should have the following professional qualities and skills:
- Set overall strategic vision and direction of the newsroom across print and digital platforms and seek new ways of offering content.
- Cultivate relationships with key community stakeholders and sources; foster engagement between newsroom staff members and the communities they serve.
- Train and mentor a newsroom team.
- Be able to clearly articulate and communicate a vision for high-impact journalism and be in the moment to capture audience growth on emerging platforms.
- Recruit and retain some of the industry’s top talent.
- Demonstrate a deep commitment to the highest standards of journalistic ethics and has a record of producing journalism of significance.
- Has the ability to recognize and prioritize competing needs on various platforms to successfully leverage newsroom resources for outstanding results.
- Engages in setting a news-gathering strategy that invites members of the public to participate and expands the diverse voices and perspectives shaping editorial coverage.
- Manage for results in a metrics-driven environment.
- Clear understanding of the First Amendment and the highest regard for upholding those standards.
- Establish and enforce newsroom policies, procedures, workflows and deadlines.
Preferred skills and experience:
- 10-plus years as a working journalist.
- 5-plus years in a management role at a news organization.
- Experience successfully leading a large, complex, high-volume and high-quality Newsroom preferred.
- Degree in journalism or relevant field.
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