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Transmedia News Editor

"I assign reporters to cover newsworthy people and events, and discuss various story approaches, angles and deadlines. I check for accuracy and fairness in our stories. I am responsible for choosing which pitches go live and how the stories should be told, from text, video, audio, photos and social media or a combination of those and more. I oversee all aspects of the story to ensure use of all news sources meet the rigorous standards of my employer. I guide the curation team to ensure each story is adapted to our diverse audience-specific distribution channels. I have three metrics of success: do our consumers trust us?; did the story engage our readers?; did it change the system?"

Salary Range:

$50,000 - $75,000

The Tip

The future is not about a single medium, but about telling engaging stories across mediums. Invest in storytelling skills of the future today.

Priority Knowledge & Skills
Job-Specific Skills

Be an expert in the following job-specific skills:

  • Supervising and coaching staff

  • Time management

  • Production schedule management

  • Understanding media ethics and stylebook

  • Ability to identify target audiences

  • Ability to develop a compelling narrative

  • Ability to develop an evidence-based story

  • Formulating research questions

  • Conducting secondary research

  • Ability to conduct qualitative research

  • Ability to conduct quantitative research

  • Ability to curate third-party content

  • Ability to use specialized communications and design technology

  • Ability to monetize curated content across media channels

Job-Specific Knowledge

Be an expert in the following job-specific knowledge areas:

  • Deep knowledge of human behaviour

  • Broad expertise in current events

  • Ability to link content to audience

  • Expertise in use of language

 

Additional Areas

  • Human resources regulations of the company

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Core Transferable Skills

Be an expert at all core transferable skills:

  • Thinking skills

  • Communications skills

  • Organizational skills

  • Interpersonal skills

  • Technical literacy

Building Block Experiences
Education & Learning:

  • Postsecondary degree or certificate in journalism

  • I consume a broad range of media within news and beyond to stay as creative as my reporters. Current favourite journalism podcast is The Turnaround.

  • Voracious reader of management books like Under New Management by David Burkus

 

"I love having the responsibility of leading a content team. I work to set the news agenda through discussions with my reporting staff and staying on top of trends and news developments. I need to be connected to the community I serve. Being a news editor is about more than just sticking around the newsroom long enough to advance. It’s essential that I earn the trust of my reporters and support them in their daily tasks and in their longer-term development. I schedule time to stay current on tech developments in our industry and how our competition covers the news."

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Employment Experiences:

  • Editor-in-chief of campus newspaper for two years in university

  • Two internships at community newspapers where I had a high level of responsibility early

  • Ran a local politics blog in university

  • Offered job after second internship; worked as city council reporter for four years and civic affairs columnist for one year

  • Promoted to news editor. After two years, offered editor job at big-city newspaper managing eight reporters.

 

"I jumped on early opportunities to lead my peers in a newsroom setting. The early experience—and learning from our mistakes—taught me I was made for the unrelenting deadlines of the news world. In my first few years of reporting, I worked hard to earn the trust of a large pool of sources and my editor because I knew I wanted to move up. My year as a columnist allowed me to develop my voice as a writer and hear a lot of feedback from our readers."

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Community Experiences:

  • Alumni mentor for journalism students

  • Coach my child’s soccer team

 

"I love being able to teach another generation of reporters what the job entails today and how it’s evolving along with technology."

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Contextual Experiences:

  • Did an undergraduate research project on First Nations news coverage

  • Volunteer contributor to tech blog

 

"I must know about my world and the people who comprise it. I seek to learn about people from challenging situations and speak their language."

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Relationships:

  • Even mentors need their own mentors. I maintain strong relationships with former classmates and colleagues who have risen to management roles.

 

"I follow established and budding journalists on social media and let them know when I like their work. I attend or volunteer at industry conferences. People who have worked with me will vouch for me."

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