The Belmont Voice, an independent news organization seeking nonprofit status and dedicated to providing meaningful local coverage to the Town of Belmont, seeks a founding editor-in-chief. As The Voice’s first editor-in-chief, this role provides a unique opportunity to help shape the direction and coverage of a new local newspaper that serves a vibrant and engaged Boston suburb.
Leading and managing. Working with the Board of Directors and the Editorial Advisory Group, the editor-in-chief will chart the course for local Belmont news coverage in a weekly print newspaper, regularly updated website and newsletter. Specifically, the editor-in-chief will:
- hire, manage, train, and collaborate with reporters, freelancers, and other paid and volunteer staff
- chart the course for daily, weekly, and ongoing coverage across multiple platforms
- plan, approve and edit assignments for writers and oversee work of editors
- organize staffing schedules and enforce deadlines to meet the needs of the news cycles
- work with production staff to compile and approve print, web and newsletter versions of the newspaper
- manage a newsroom budget.
The successful candidate will have at least five years of experience in a newsroom with a demonstrable record of leading a local news team in a fast-paced, ever-changing setting.
Writing and reporting. The editor-in-chief must be able to not only rigorously edit and fact-check the work of others but to write clearly and quickly on deadline, whether focusing on breaking news, features, or enterprise and investigative work. Stories will include coverage of town government and politics, schools, housing and economic development, environment and health, diversity and inclusion, sports, arts and entertainment, and everyday Belmont residents and businesses.
- The ideal candidate is resourceful and unflappable
- Able to edit and write with an eye for accuracy and fairness
- Correcting any errors quickly and transparently
- Able to think more broadly about how stories might be enhanced with multimedia components.
- This person should have top-notch storytelling experience across a variety of mediums
- Be well-versed in AP style and familiar with WordPress
- Finally, the candidate should ascribe to the ethical principles and editorial standards developed by The Belmont Voice.
Community presence and audience engagement. As the newsroom leader and public face of The Belmont Voice, this person must develop a robust presence in the community and be able to remain dispassionate, analytical, and objective when faced with criticism from readers. In order to establish a strong feedback channel with the Belmont community, the editor-in-chief should be adept at using current social media platforms and willing to embrace those that may emerge in the future. The successful candidate should be familiar with the metrics used to measure readership on all platforms and be aware of audience trends.
We recognize that candidates may not meet all the criteria outlined, but if you are passionate about our work and have a vision to share with us, please apply. We will carefully consider every serious applicant.
Salary, benefits, and other details. The annual salary for this position will be commensurate with experience in a range of $70,000 to $80,000. Health benefits will be provided.
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