Assistant Sports Editor
JOB SUMMARY:
The gamer is dead an hour after the final whistle. The assistant sports editor and his or her team know this and will excel by sharing unique stories and breaking news with smart analysis.
This person should have an understanding of how the needs of our audience must be at the very center of the way we shape our stories and share them out. Our newsroom is looking for someone who can help increase our reach and impact, as well as help us build trust and loyalty with our readers. He or she will discuss original story ideas with reporters and visual journalists, consistently asking who cares about the story and why.
The ideal candidate recognizes that even in sports readers expect us to look out for them and as such, this person will embrace our watchdog role and push reporters to approach their coverage with a skeptical eye that holds powerful institutions, coaches and administrators accountable.
He or she will know how to mine Omniture and Chartbeat to coach reporters to grow their audience by identifying what works and, more important, what fails to connect with readers. Doing things the way we have "always done them" is no longer an acceptable approach. We will experiment our way to success by embracing changes in technology and audience trends, and by understanding that what works today might not six months later.
This editor will coach reporters to find the best platform for their stories -- whether it's a podcast, video series or 800-word enterprise story (or a combo of all three).
We are in an ultra-competitive market, so immediacy is key, as is having a sharp eye for SEO, keywords and "shareable" headlines that encourage readers to stop scrolling.
The assistant sports editor is responsible for working with our sports columnist and enterprise, college and breaking/digital sports reporters. He or she will work closely with a deputy sports editor responsible for professional sports (Cowboys, Rangers, Mavs and more) and will jump in on high school sports planning and strategy sessions as well.
Core competencies
-- Work with reporters to vet stories for mission and audience, ensuring that their work reaches a significant audience. This editor will say no to stories that are too incremental or otherwise don’t meet our standards.
-- Work closely with the audience and social media teams to see that reporters' work is on the right platforms at the right times.
-- Work with other editors to see that the Star-Telegram is covering the topics and issues that are important to its readers.
-- Be an advocate for video and alternative storytelling.
-- Ensure that packages have strong SEO headlines, the right keywords and strong share headlines.
-- Ability to act as a proxy for our readers, asking the questions readers want answered
-- Understanding of metrics, and the ability to discuss with his/her reporters what they mean
-- The ability to lead, direct, collaborate with and coach colleagues throughout the newsroom.
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Strong editing and/or writing skills and excellent news judgment.
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Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy and a superior ear for tone.
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Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, constantly evolving, and more outcome-oriented than task-oriented.
Requirements:
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A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
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4+ years of online journalism experience
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A deep understanding of both the art and the science of audience engagement, ideally including:
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Fluency with analytics and how to apply them.
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A critical eye for optimizing content to fit different platforms. This includes the ability to write headlines that help the story reach the intended audience.
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Good working knowledge of SEO practices.
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A proven record of driving readership through Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
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Skill and versatility as an editor and a writer.
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Sound news judgment, and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers and to anticipate reader interests before they exist.
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Strong attention to detail and the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once.
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The proven ability to lead, inspire, and convey knowledge to others, and to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues.