About the position
At LAist, we believe Angelenos deserve great local news that meets them wherever they are-online, on-air, in person, on-demand, social and in their inbox. To meet that need, we're seeking an Associate Editor with strong copy-editing skills who'll be our lead newsletter writer and assist in polishing our digital stories. We're looking for somebody to bring energy, creativity, and resourcefulness to our email work. This role will be critical to one of our highest priorities: making LAist a daily digital habit for Southern Californians. The Associate Editor will also work across the newsroom, social, product, events, membership and underwriting teams to more deeply engage Angelenos on the issues and stories that matter most to Los Angeles. You will help to execute creative strategy around how best to tie in LAist's multiplatform work into newsletter copy, plus support copyediting needs for stories published to LAist.com. This role has a Sunday through Thursday schedule. You'll know this position is for you if you love writing and sharpening news copy, collaborating with others, analyzing data and making data-informed decisions that exemplify strong journalistic standards and serve the regional audience. In this role, you'll report to the director of audience engagement and be a close collaborator with the newsroom's managing editors.
Responsibilities
- Regularly write and edit LAist's daily L.A. Report newsletter, plus contribute to weekly newsletter products that cover a range of topics, including education and L.A. arts and culture.
- Support dot-com copyediting and homepage needs for the newsroom.
- Help develop newsletter strategies that will help grow a loyal email and digital audience for LAist.
- Work with membership, events and marketing teams to create cohesive storytelling across the organization within newsletters, furthering the brand and mission.
- Collaborate with producers, reporters, editors and external media partners on coverage.
- Play a role in keeping the newsroom on track to meet audience growth goals.
- Assist with planning story coverage for LAist, especially as it relates to writing for LAist newsletters.
- Bring fresh ideas to make content easily accessible for audiences on and off platform.
- Use analytics (e.g. click-through, open rates, LAist.com traffic insights, etc) to make data-informed decisions that help grow newsletter engagement.
- Uphold the organization's editorial standards, voice, and style on all digital platforms.
- Understand and deploy our promise to practice diversity, equity and inclusion in how we assign, report, edit, produce and distribute our journalism.
- Other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience
- 5+ years' experience in digital journalism, social media engagement and/or content production
- Experience as a journalist
- Experience writing and editing newsletters
- Strong news judgment and an interest in local and regional news
- Outstanding writing skills, particularly for digital platforms - we expect to see writing samples.
- Ability to tell stories in different ways on different platforms.
- An understanding of social media, particularly LinkedIn and its newsletter functionality
- Broad knowledge of digital storytelling tools and trends
- Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with colleagues in multiple departments/divisions
- Knowledge and fluency with AP style and usage
- Advanced knowledge of SEO, particularly for headlines and newsletter subject lines
- Ability to use analytics to drive decision-making
- Experience working with content management systems
Nice-to-haves
- Familiarity with Salesforce Marketing Cloud and StoryPorts
- Ability to work with changing deadlines and in a fast-paced environment
- Basic knowledge of HTML/CSS
Benefits
- Medical plans with HSA and FSA options
- Dental
- Vision
- Life and AD&D
- Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
- Paid Parental Leave and Paid Caregiver Leave after 1 year
- Vacation (3 wks./per year, pro-rated, based on hours worked)
- Sick time (12 days, pro-rated, based on hours worked)
- Holiday Pay (10 holidays + 2 floating holidays each year)
- Volunteer Time (8 hours per year)
- Long-Term Care and Critical Illness insurance options
- Employee Assistance Program
- 403(b) Retirement Plan
