Pacific Standard is looking for an associate editor who can oversee short-form coverage on the Web, with a focus on growing the magazine’s audience and brand. The magazine has become best known for its deeply reported and longform features, but this writer-editor hybrid would have wide latitude to shape and execute a short-form editorial strategy.
We’d like to see this person’s scoops and breaking news coverage cited by other magazines and major newspapers, and their quick analysis and smart value-added aggregation be celebrated on social media. But this job would be about more than writing and reporting—it would involve strategic planning about how to make Pacific Standard content recognizable and respected in the flood of the daily news cycle. We already produce short-form content (see our Footnotes section), but no one is thinking seriously about how it could be better, different, and more engaging. That would be you.
Because of our small staff and high ambitions, we’ve too often missed opportunities to insert our voice into the trending news conversation, and this person would be charged with correcting that. Working alongside our digital director, Web producer, and engagement fellow, the editor would identify what kinds of stories truly grab our audience and write, assign, and recalibrate based on those affinities. The editor would also identify holes in our current coverage and write and assign in a way that could attract new audiences to the site. We want our readers to start navigating to PSmag.com for more than our features and longer Web stories: They should also come for news coverage and, hopefully, some fun. What that will look like is up to you.
Whether it’s traditional scoops, more breaking news updates, fiery or humorous analysis backed by the latest research, or something altogether different, we need to bring the magazine’s unique public-interest mission to more people. This person will be responsible for producing short-form that does just that. The person in this position will manage several writers and must be comfortable vocalizing the overall news and engagement strategy to the newsroom.
The ideal candidate will have a minimum of three years experience working in a fast-paced newsroom as either a reporter or an editor. The candidate will have a refined understanding of what a Web audience wants to read, and the ability to deliver it based on a combination of feedback from Google Analytics, Chartbeat, and various social media reports. This person must be able to work well under pressure and exercise diplomacy in all dealings with editors, writers, and sources. This is a great opportunity for an ambitious digital reporter or editor who wants more creative control over their work. Strong communication skills and a genuine interest in digital innovation are both a plus.
Primary Responsibilities
- Write, edit, and assign all short-form content on the Web: scoops, breaking news, short analysis, and new forms that you invent.
- Manage a stable of staff writers and freelancers, in coordination with the digital director, to create content that serves a large audience.
- Craft editorial and audience strategy based on the latest data, and communicate your short-form strategy to other writers and editors in the newsroom.
- Identify holes in coverage and capitalize on them to build new audiences and the brand.
- Collaborate with other editors across the newsroom to find smart ways of packaging stories for the largest possible audience.
- Use the lessons you learn on the Web to edit and improve our short front-of-book print section, Primer.
- Build online audiences for your print departments and help oversee the creation of ancillary Web content for other print stories.
To Apply
This position is based in our offices in Santa Barbara, California. To apply, send a resume and cover letter outlining your interest and relevant experience to Nicholas Jackson at njackson@psmag.com. All application materials should be submitted electronically. We regret that we cannot respond to all applicants. Absolutely no phone calls, please.
