The 74 is seeking an experienced and aggressive senior news editor for its expanding digital network of education news websites (The74Million.org, LASchoolReport.com, TopSheet.com). The ideal candidate will be comfortable in a high-energy entrepreneurial environment, eager to own and master the education beat and capable of overseeing and producing daily short-form news hits, developing broader weekly features and steering the site’s conversation on social platforms.  

The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced news environment and understands the value of Twitter and Facebook as sources of news. The ideal candidate is a voracious consumer of news, who enjoys finding information across the web. The ideal candidate has a proven history of newsroom leadership and big thinking but who also sweats the details with precise and error-free editing. In other words, we are looking for an editor who can both keep the site current with breaking news while also thinking more broadly about projects and analysis that will maximize impact. 

While we would prefer an editor with deeper experience in education news, we don’t require it. What’s needed is a proven track record of developing and mastering coverage of a specific beat, and an interest in diving into a new topic area. Candidates should be ambitious editors with a demonstrated ability to deliver timely content with a sophisticated edge, and a proven track record of helping journalists to develop their theses and voice. If you’re currently an editor caught in the exhausting churn of chasing pageviews down the rabbit hole, we are your escape — a nonprofit focused on quality, looking to empower our passionate team members with the mentorship, resources and time they need to cover the nation’s most important issue.

Responsibilities Include

• Edit a mix of daily education news posts, opinion columns and broader features about national, state, and local education matters and politics.
• Serve as the hourly conductor of The 74 Media network, developing a strategy to connect the various properties and create a rich daily experience for return visitors.
• Oversee the commissioning of morning blog hits, ensuring quick movement on the day’s breaking headlines.
• Work closely with the Editorial Director to brainstorm, maintain and execute a monthly calendar of special projects that will cut through the noise and drive the conversation.
• Keep abreast of trends, developments, personalities and challenges in education around the country.
• Scour other education news sites and social platforms.
• Be an active source of ideas in daily and weekly edit meetings.
• Collaborate with senior editors across the organization in developing articles, graphics, videos and photo essays that shine a light on the problems, solutions and personalities shaping U.S. education.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in journalism, communications, public policy or other related field.
• 3+ years of newsroom editing experience.
• Past specialization in education coverage, or a demonstrated ability in developing and steering coverage of another specific beat.  
• Established presence on social media and comfort in using various social networks to reach both readers and influencers.
• Willingness to work the occasional flexible shift.
• Comfortable in a dynamic, always-changing digital news environment; able to adapt.
• Track record of finding topics or angles that broke through the static of the web.