Associate Director, Short Reads
Position Summary
The Associate Director will be the primary editor of Short Reads, Pew Research Center’s data journalism blog. The Associate Director will oversee the editorial process for all blog posts, including those written by blog staff and those written by researchers from across the wider organization, while managing the blog’s editorial calendar and shaping ideas for future coverage. The Associate Director manages the blog team and is responsible for their professional development. The ideal candidate will have superb editing, writing and organizational skills; strong news sense and editorial judgment; digital journalism experience; a talent and appreciation for data visualization and visual journalism; a comprehension of quantitative research, particularly survey research; and an interest in understanding digital audience behavior and building the audience for Pew Research Center’s work. Candidates should have strong collaborative orientation and work well across functions and departments around the Center.
Primary Responsibilities
Editing the Short Reads blog
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Work with blog team staff and researchers from across the organization to produce blog posts on a wide range of research topics, with a focus on timeliness, relevance and accessibility for a general audience.
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Rigorously edit blog posts for structure, understandability, accuracy and neutrality, including in all headlines and infographics.
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Ensure that the blog includes a variety of content types, including graphics, video, curations, etc.
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Ensure that all blog content meets the Center’s high standards of rigor, quality and impartiality.
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Work with communications, research and digital strategy teams to develop content appropriate for audiences on digital, tablet, mobile and emerging forms of technology.
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Train and serve as a resource to writers and researchers across the Center on writing for digital platforms.
Conceiving of original ideas and new content for the Short Reads blog
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Develop new ideas for blog posts, visual features, multimedia pieces and other content types grounded in Pew Research Center data or reliable external data.
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Work with writers and researchers to come up with and create new content, including by holding regular brainstorming meetings with researchers from around the organization.
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Manage the blog’s editorial calendar to ensure a steady stream of blog posts, with particular attention on outside news developments that make Pew Research Center data timely and relevant.
Managing the Short Reads blog team
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Directly supervise a blog team consisting of 5-7 writers, researchers, copy editors and editorial assistants and provide for their professional development.
Writing for the Short Reads blog
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Contribute posts to the Short Reads blog based on either Pew Research Center data, reliable external data or both. Work on high-level, synthesis-type pieces as available.
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Analyze data and write blog posts in an authoritative, compelling way for the Center’s key audiences.
Education/Training/Experience
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Bachelor’s degree
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10+ years of digital journalism experience, including editing and writing
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Management experience preferred
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Broad familiarity with subjects covered by Pew Research Center
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Demonstrated facility with stories with a quantitative focus
Knowledge and Skills Requirements
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Exceptional editing and writing skills
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Meticulous attention to detail
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Excellent news judgment
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Knowledge of AP Style
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Knowledge of basic web production tools and skills, including WordPress, content management systems, web analytics and search engine optimization
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Knowledge of social media and emerging trends in digital communication
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Must be highly organized and able to juggle multiple projects under tight deadlines
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Must be proactive, collaborative and able to work in a cross-functional team, bridging technical and editorial skill sets