The Buffalo News is looking for a creative and driven digital content editor to help increase audience growth and engagement on our digital platforms.
We’re the largest news organization in upstate New York and a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News. In the past year, we have increased our digital subscriptions by 45 percent. We are graduates of Poynter’s Table Stakes program and one of 10 newspapers selected in 2019 for Google’s Digital Subscriptions Lab.
Our digital editors play an essential role in helping The Buffalo News build a digital subscription business. Bring us strong news judgment, great ideas and an ability to get things done, and we’ll set you up with the tools and resources to make things happen.
The Buffalo News is committed to ambitious journalism. Our digital desk gets people to read it.
Job requirements
Digital fluency. Digital content editors must be:
Voracious digital news consumers, putting them on top of what is new and interesting in a rapidly changing climate of news presentation and technology.
Active mobile users, with an intuitive understanding of how to appeal to mobile users.
Technologically facile, eagerly and quickly adopting and mastering new technologies as well as being able to effectively troubleshoot, reacting when technical difficulties arise to identify the problems and work toward a solution.
Creative, easily capitalizing on available content during busy times, but just as easily finding ways to boost audience when it’s slow.
Savvy and efficient platform management. Article pages. Mobile vs desktop. App and html. Push alerts. We work on multiple platforms (and want to experiment with more) with an eye toward retention and luring in new subscribers. News coverage often involves simultaneously posting a story; tweeting, alerting and posting on Facebook; adding links; and rearranging the page – all in competition with local or national media. We need someone fast, facile and able to juggle many tasks at once.
Great copy-editing and writing skills. We’re looking for a skilled wordsmith with a keen eye for style and grammar. The ability to craft smart, engaging, SEO-friendly headlines is a must. Additionally, digital content editors must be able to rewrite articles based on updates from reporters in the field, as well as produce related content.
Understanding of key newsroom analytics tools. Our ideal candidate is an analytics hound, eager and comfortable using data – from Google Analytics to Metrics for News to Parse.ly.
Great news judgment. Digital news coverage moves fast. Our editors make real-time news judgments, while also monitoring other news sources and ensuring The News is reacting accordingly.
We want you to tell us what your goals should be and challenge the ones we give you. We also want you to try new things. Bring us your ideas, and we’ll help you make them happen. And if they fail, we’ll help you figure out why and apply that lesson to future projects.
Strong communication skills. Comfort with working in a team environment is critical; digital content editors work closely with assigning editors, photographers and reporters.
The digital landscape changes rapidly. Arguably the single biggest requirement is adaptability – the ability to spot, grasp and master what’s new, especially new technology and new models of coverage.
About The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is Western New York's number one news source, providing in-depth, up-to the minute news in print and online.
