The Wall Street Journal is looking for a leader for its off-platform team as we accelerate our storytelling across vertical channels like Snapchat, Instagram, Google Web Stories and more.
The Editor, Visual Storytelling will lead a team responsible for crafting visually rich news experiences on vertical platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Google Web Stories. The job involves developing and executing the WSJ’s approach across visual-first social channels for a wide range of projects, from enterprise journalism and features to breaking news. You will work directly with photo, video, graphics, design and strategy colleagues to create compelling and accurate storytelling experiences and find opportunities to serialize features. You will distribute and optimize visually driven content, understanding where and how it appears on specific channels, with a goal of more deeply engaging our existing and potential audiences.
The Editor, Visual Storytelling will assign, direct and supervise the day-to-day work of other platform editors and ensure it is of the highest quality and meets our ethical standards. You will be an advocate for the needs of our off-platform channels with coverage chiefs and be an evangelist for digital storytelling in the newsroom. In addition to being a key voice in product improvements for digital platforms and editorial tools, this editor will help manage day-to-day relationships with external partners and be involved in shaping storytelling experiments.
You will start this job remotely but ultimately be based in our New York office. You will report up to the Off-Platform Editor.
A clear and likely internal candidate has been identified for this position.
You Will:
- Build, manage and lead a team of editors and visual journalists focused on delivering our news on mobile platforms
- Be a vocal advocate for visual/vertical/mobile storytelling in the newsroom.
- Showcase our journalism for the millions of people who come to us from social channels, with a dedicated focus on visual-first platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Google Web Stories.
- Act as an arbiter on decisions related to news distribution, play and packaging.
- Manage day-to-day relationships with external partners and tech platforms.
- Initiate storytelling experiments to leverage the native features of the platforms.
- Foster development of individual team members by seeking out growth opportunities.
- Serve as a key voice in product initiatives for digital platforms and editorial tools.
- Set team schedules, manage workflow and deliver performance reviews.
- Ensure team members receive appropriate training and support to do their work.
- Communicate changes to workflow, tools and best practices on an ongoing basis.
- Participate in recruiting and evaluating candidates during the hiring process.
- Collaborate with various newsroom teams to ensure the Journal’s visually driven stories are executed at a high level across all channels
- Attend coverage planning meetings to identify and shape stories with the highest potential to engage audiences on visual-first social platforms
- Be data-informed in your decision-making to grow our reach on these channels
- Help codify visual best practices on social media, including the creation of custom templates; clarify and update the guidelines as necessary.
- Explore opportunities for live-streaming via various platforms; conceive original content that can be serialized on those platforms
- Contribute to efforts associated with the day-to-day publishing of visual content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more
- Help our news desks craft social language and optimize visuals for these platforms.
- Coordinate with other social-media editors, including colleagues in Europe and Asia, to ensure smooth transitions in social publishing around the clock.
- Closely collaborate with fellow editors on the homepage and mobile teams to maintain a unified publishing approach on and off platform.
To apply, go here.
Chris RoushChris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.