Editor & Lead Reporter
The Newton Beacon, the new nonprofit news source for the city of Newton, Massachusetts, seeks an entrepreneurial journalist to edit, write and guide the organization as it moves from its current pilot phase to full-time news coverage. Moreover, we seek someone passionate about bringing fair, local reporting to the largest city in the state without dedicated professional news coverage.
About the Beacon: The Newton Beacon is an online-only news organization operated by the Newton News Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, and guided by a board of directors and other volunteers from the community. After more than a year of planning, the Beacon launched a pilot phase in January, dedicated to covering a major tax proposal championed by our mayor that goes before voters in March. Now, the Beacon is poised to hire its first full-time leader and offer Newton full-spectrum coverage.
About the Responsibilities: The Editor & Lead Reporter will, at first, serve as the Beacon’s sole staff reporter and as editor of the Beacon’s freelance reporters and interns – in keeping with the start-up nature of our enterprise. As such, s/he will set editorial priorities in coverage, likely to include a lively mix of city government, education, business, sports and culture stories. The Editor & Lead Reporter also will make story assignments, edit copy, take photos, write headlines, upload stories to the Beacon website (WordPress) and send email alerts to subscribers (via Constant Contact).
About the Candidate: The person hired to be our first Editor & Lead Reporter will be an entrepreneurial journalist with experience in a previous local news organization and excited about countering the growth of local news deserts across the country. S/he will be comfortable operating independently and without a proscribed playbook, assisted as helpful by the foundation’s board of directors and a subcommittee with some journalism experience. Also, s/he will embrace the Beacon’s ethical policies and commitment to nonpartisan, fair news reporting. Preference will be given to candidates who live in the Boston area and have a connection to Newton.
Salary range: $65,000 to $75,000. To apply, please send a résumé, cover letter and links to examples of published work to the attention of Joe Hunter: info@newtonbeacon.org