ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
We dig deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and we stick with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account.
We are seeking a temporary full-time audience editor for six months who will work closely with senior editors and reporters on the presentation and promotion of our stories and who will assist the audience team with daily social platform programming.
Essential responsibilities
- Write and edit concise, compelling headlines and decks for stories, explainers, impact follow-ups and more.
- Participate in story and planning meetings as needed to best promote stories.
- Draft social copy for your assigned stories, which can include single posts for X, Bluesky, Facebook, Threads, Mastodon and LinkedIn; threads for X and Bluesky; Instagram captions; and more.
- Serve as the point person for your assigned stories, helping to inform the audience team of findings and potential promotional opportunities, and monitoring on-site and off-platform performance metrics.
- Lead the 8 a.m. ET social shift, programming reposts, monitoring comments and replies, and posting breaking news stories, as needed, across numerous social platforms. Serve as a backup for other social shifts when team members are out sick, on vacation or seek additional capacity.
- Send push notifications to our audiences on desktop, native iOS and Android apps, and Apple News.
About you
We are looking for someone who has social media production, audience engagement and editing experience. The ideal candidate will have many of these skills:
- Strong headline writing and copy editing skills, as well as a familiarity with AP style.
- Deep understanding of platform-specific content best practices.
- Strong news judgment and a deep understanding of how stories can resonate with our audiences.
- Experience creating social content and running social platforms.
- Experience with social media scheduling and analytics tools like Sprout Social, Buffer and Later.
- Familiarity with content analytics tools like Google Analytics, Parse.ly and Chartbeat.
- A history of leveraging social media platforms to maximize the impact and reach of a news story, all with a goal of making the journalism as accessible as it can be for as many people as possible.
- A collaborative mindset, stellar communication skills and the ability to work on several stories at once. You’ll need to stay organized and focused, and to meet deadlines.
- Experience working on enterprise and investigative journalism is a plus.
- Available to work, with advance notice, occasional nights or weekends as the news cycle demands.
- Ability to travel as required.
This job is a full-time, six-month temporary position and includes benefits. ProPublica is based in New York, but we’re open to candidates based in the U.S. who can begin work at 8 a.m. ET. We have offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Chicago; Austin, Texas; Phoenix; and Berkeley, California. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.
The expected pay rate for this position is $47 an hour for 40 hours per week.
This is a good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.
We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, but we will continue to consider candidates as long as the posting remains live on our site.
Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org.
No phone calls, please.
We know there are great candidates who may not fit into what we’ve described above or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.
We are dedicated to improving our newsroom, in part by better reflecting the people we cover. (Here is a breakdown of our staff.) We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. And we are taking steps to meet that commitment. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age or any other status protected under applicable law.
