Senior Assignment Editor, Digital

Primary Responsibilities

• Assigns, supervises and edits daily news stories in text and other formats.
• Uses data to plan daily news coverage on site and across platforms.
• Regularly reports to digital staff on news performance and adjusts assignments accordingly.
• Works closely with the digital leadership to coordinate publishing news and reporting across platforms.
• Cookbook schedule for daily news desk coverage and fill shifts on that desk when needed, with an eye toward maximizing effective use of existing resources and the creation of distinctive, brand-consistent content.
• Develop coverage plans for major events, in close consultation with senior digital and broadcast colleagues.
• Identify future stories of likely interest to existing and potential PBS NewsHour audience.
• Supervise producers/reporters.
• Mentor and coach staff, particularly on how to shape ideas into actionable and reportable stories.
• Perform related special projects or other duties as assigned.

Additional Skills And Qualifications

• Superior editorial judgement.
• Strong news judgment, writing and copy editing skills.
• Exceptional judgment crafting and signing off on final headlines and metadata.
• Track record of using analytics and other tools to drive decision-making and set team goals.
• Experience making daily assignments and high-volume editing in all formats.
• As part of a small team, ability to jump into different stages of production to help move content to publish.
• Experience reshaping processes and tools to attain more efficiency.
• Experience managing production processes.
• Demonstrated ability to shape content for different platforms and their audiences.
• Project management skills with ability to balance and manage multiple priorities on daily, weekly, and long-term schedules.
• Fluency with common CMS publishing systems, social media, basic video editing and website analytics software.
• Strong collaborative skills with ability to develop strong relationships across departments.
• Effective communication and proven leadership skills.
• Experience managing reporters and/or producers, and supervising a team.
• Successful execution of day-parting strategy.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism preferred.
• 7 or more years of experience, ideally three managing online daily news production and guiding movement of stories.
• Or equivalent combination of training and experience.

LOCATION

WETA and NewsHour Productions are Washington, DC established media and news organizations. We are a largely local workforce based out of the Campbell Place office in Arlington, VA. WETA and NewsHour Productions value employee flexibility when possible. Most positions based in our Arlington, VA office will be onsite or hybrid, depending upon the role.

Company Overview

WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation’s capital, produces and distributes content that informs, inspires, and enriches lives. As the second-largest producing station for the public media system, WETA creates programming to explore history, arts, and culture, partnering with acclaimed filmmakers such as Ken Burns and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. National WETA productions include The American Revolution and Finding Your Roots, among many others. WETA is also home to PBS News, the primary daily, breaking, and special news producer for PBS. Its broadcast productions include PBS News Hour, Washington Week with The Atlantic, Horizons from PBS News, and Compass Points from PBS News, as well as specials, documentaries, and a robust footprint across digital platforms. Locally, WETA serves audiences across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, through television, radio, and digital platforms. Audiences access WETA on broadcast channels WETA PBS, WETA UK, WETA Metro, WETA World, and WETA PBS Kids, and digitally through the free streaming platform WETA+.

Benefits

WETA Equal Employment Opportunity WETA and NewsHour Productions are equal opportunity employers committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and internships.