Afternoon Digital News Editor (News Editor)

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world's population sees AP journalism every day.

The Associated Press seeks a Los Angeles-based news editor to join our growing team of diverse journalists focused on digital audiences. In this role, you will oversee every aspect of our digital output during the U.S. afternoon and evening, including what gets published on our site and app, what we optimize for search, what we alert and what we post on social. 

  

We are looking for a journalist with curiosity, drive, and creativity. You are someone who can write with verve and voice, and you can strengthen and sharpen copy. You have a rich understanding of – and deep experience with – how news travels on websites, social channels, SEO, newsletters and other platforms. 

 

Responsibilities: In this role, you will work with the global newsgathering team to make sure that we are covering the day’s top stories with audiences in mind. You’ll lead a group of engagement editors to optimize and promote that work. You will ask these questions of yourself and the team: What stories are likely to resonate with audiences? Are we framing our articles in a way that is relatable for our readers and viewers? Do our platforms reflect the most relevant and updated developments in a breaking story? 

  

You will be the lead editor for the Digital News team during the afternoon and evening hours from the West Coast, leading a team of geographically distributed engagement editors. The successful candidate is not just a practitioner of data-informed decision-making, but also an evangelist. You are a collaborator of the highest caliber, working with colleagues across the AP to generate ideas for daily, next-day and long-term coverage in any format. And you’re able to act in the moment – whipping up a live blog; pivoting your engagement editors from assigned tasks as needed; and, when the situation demands, rolling up your sleeves to curate our site and optimize our content for search engines. You must have the ability and willingness to work any shift, including at night and on weekends, or as coverage demands, as AP is a 24/7 operation. 

  

You will also edit our Afternoon Wire newsletter, including working with the newsletter editor on choosing stories and editing the final product. When the newsletter editor is unavailable, you will serve as the writer or assign that to someone on your team. 

 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, such as at least three years of full-time work as an editor, reporter or social media producer at a daily newspaper, broadcast station, digital news outlet or AP bureau.   

• All applicants must be able to work in the U.S. or be able to gain permission to do so. 

 

Preferred Qualifications: The right person for this role is a stellar writer and editor – someone who has their finger on the pulse of social conversations, can take a good headline and make it great, and can make mundane copy sing. You enjoy multitasking and can thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. 

 

We’re looking for someone who:

• understands how to monitor and interpret metrics to serve and grow AP’s diverse global audiences.
• can quickly become conversant with every aspect of AP’s all-formats news report.
• has strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams of journalists and designers at the AP who operate in all formats: text, photo, video, audio, digital/social, interactive and graphics.
• pursues innovative and inclusive techniques while maintaining AP’s standards for integrity and objectivity. 

 

We will consider strong candidates who do not meet every listed qualification. You may use a cover letter to describe the unique qualifications you would bring to this role.
 

Salary & Benefits : T