The L.A. Local News Initiative is seeking an editor who will lead one of our community publications and join a local leadership team spearheading a significant effort to ensure all communities of Los Angeles have access to quality news and information.

The local editor will manage two-four reporters, dedicated to producing stories of high relevance and interest to local residents in South Los Angeles and Inglewood, and create a go-to primary news source for the neighborhoods in this area. The editor will be instrumental in shaping our strategy to best serve the area, including web articles, social media and other media that effectively reach our audiences on their preferred platforms. They will have specialized support in multimedia production, data journalism, social media strategy, and other centralized functions.

Our approach to community journalism builds on Boyle Heights Beat, a nationally recognized newsroom that super serves Boyle Heights and East L.A. by combining original, on-the-ground reporting with curated and collaborative content with our media partners. The editor will execute a content strategy prioritizing local information needs, based on deep listening to community members. The local editor will work closely with the initiative-wide programs, including our community engagement team and a high school student journalism program that trains and pays local youth to do high-quality reporting on their neighborhoods.

The successful candidate will have strong news judgment, a passion for serving the diverse communities of Los Angeles, and a commitment to storytelling.

The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is a nonprofit startup dedicated to revitalizing local journalism in Los Angeles. We're building a new model for community-focused news that connects neighborhood-level reporting with broader regional issues. Our approach combines dedicated community newsrooms with a central hub that amplifies local stories, identifies cross-community trends, and produces region-wide coverage that matters to all Angelenos.

• Free, Independent Local Press: We believe all Angelenos deserve to have a source of unbiased information that equips them to thrive in their daily lives. Our work will meet high journalism standards, be independent, non-partisan, and free to access. We’ll prioritize reaching as many Angelenos as possible, in the most effective ways possible.
• Community-first: We center the needs of local communities, with an ultimate goal to strengthen communities and make LA work better for Angelenos. Journalism should be focused on serving people most affected by the subject matter, and equipping them to take action.
• Equity & Inclusion: We need a representative, equitable, and inclusive local press. Newsrooms should be representative of the communities they cover, shift narratives to be centered on community perspectives, and provide pathways into newsgathering for residents.
• Trust: We believe that building trust must be a core principle of our journalism. As a baseline, the journalism we support must be accurate, independent, unbiased, non-partisan, and a trusted source of shared facts by the communities we serve.

Responsibilities

• Supervise four reporters serving two of our coverage areas and collaborate with others across the newsroom to identify and execute impactful community-focused journalism.
• Edit web stories, newsletters and other content for your areas of coverage, and ensure they are reflective of the voice and tone in our strategy, and meet consistent, high standards.
• Plan daily and long-term coverage in coordination with the Managing Editor, Neighborhoods. Develop weekly news budgets and maintain editorial calendars for two local publications.
• Work with LALNI leadership to set measurable targets for journalistic impact and local audience engagement, and guide your local news teams to achieve them.
• Supervise, train, and manage direct staff through coaching, mentorship, performance meetings, and ongoing feedback.
• Lead weekly editorial meetings, incorporating input from the community engagement team and student journalists and work with other news staff and student mentors to determine the assignments of the day.
• Help to cultivate, support and edit a network of community/freelance reporters
• Through consistent leadership, foster a creative, learning-oriented and productive work environment where journalists of all levels and backgrounds, including high school reporters, can develop their skills.
• Create individualized development plans for staff and training to enhance skills and foster growth.
• Understand and integrate our promise to practice diversity, equity, and inclusion in how we assign, report, edit, produce, and distribute our journalism.
• Represent the newsroom internally and externally.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience:

• Strong experience in daily journalism; three years editing or equivalent experience, including experience managing the work of others.
• Experience reporting or editing in Southern California preferred.
• Experience in maintaining high journalistic standards under deadline pressure, including standards of objectivity, balance, and fairness.
• Some experience providing work direction or supervisory experience.
• Experience assigning stories and editing copy.
• Experience with digital news production and presentation.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:

• Strong news judgment
• Strong writing and editing essential
• Demonstrated digital production skills
• Ability to make decisions on deadline, direct coverage and communicate effectively with colleagues and supervisors
• Ability to handle multiple assignments on deadline
• Strong leadership and personnel skills
• A commitment to principles of diversity, equity and inclusion
• Ability to work well with others and to inspire and lead the staff
• Passion for building community relationships through networking and social media
• Ability to use community engagement tools/methods, crowdsourcing and digital news-gathering techniques, including curation and aggregation.
• Knowledge and experience with WordPress or similar website platform
• Commitment to public service journalism.
• Understanding of metrics, social media and SEO strategy

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Fluency in Spanish or Korean
• Experience working with diverse communities
• Multimedia production skills
• Knowledge of Los Angeles

The annual salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications, ranging from $110,000 to $120,000. Salaries reflect our compensation philosophy of market competitiveness and pay equity. All candidates receive a first and best offer in line with our market, recognizing their education, training, years of experience, and level of expertise.

We are committed to providing employees with a comprehensive benefits package that ensures staff have access to quality and affordable healthcare, can save for the future, and can find time to recharge.

The following benefits are provided to all full-time staff. We consider full-time to be 35 or more hours per week.

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance: We cover 100% of the premium associated with individual health, dental, and vision plans (employee only) and 50% of the premium for dependents.

Paid Time Off: 15 days of paid time off (PTO) per year for vacation and personal time, which will accrue throughout the year.

Paid Holidays: 12 paid holidays per year (New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day,  resident’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous People’s Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day).

401(k) Match:  We provide eligible employees with traditional and Roth 401(k) plans. We will match up to the first 4% contributed to the plan by an employee. All employee contributions and employer matching funds are immediately vested.

FSA & HSA:  We provide Flexible Spending Accounts (for eligible commuter transportation, medical, and child care expenses) and Health Savings Accounts, and we will cover the administrative management fees on these offerings.

Cellphone and wifi reimbursement:  We will provide $50 each month to help cover the costs of cellphone and wifi usage.

Disability and Life Insurance:  We cover short-term pre-disability earnings up to $1,500 per week and long-term disability up to $5,000 per month. We will also offer basic life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance at 1x the employee’s salary, up to $100,000.

One Medical:  Employees and their dependents get free membership to the national leader in technology-enabled, on-demand primary care.

Teladoc: Employees receive access to 24/7/365 quality medical care via video, phone, or mobile app.

‍Health Advocate: Employees have an advocate in their health care from negotiating down medical bills, to speaking with a trained counsel for mental health support, to much more.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous people, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. We encourage people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations, and marital statuses to apply.