The sports editor will lead, manage, and inspire a team of journalists as they produce powerful journalism for readers in our local community and region, helping the reporters’ content stand out in a competitive digital landscape. Producing that kind of journalism will require the sports editor to help reporters focus on being first with breaking news and generating enterprise and accountability reporting that goes beyond simply what happens on the field of play.

Beats include the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and Texas Christian University, among others. Our future lies in digital, and the editor will lead their team to focus squarely on serving the measurable needs and interests of digital readers, breaking from formulaic print-oriented strategies and follow-the-pack sports journalism. The sports editor will embrace the strategic use of SEO, social media headlines, search deadlines, share text and video. The sports editor plays a crucial part in coaching reporters to put our readers at the center of everything we do.

The sports editor will discuss every story idea with a reporter, defining the audience and how the story should be shaped to reach the widest audience. When necessary, the sports editor must be the one to reject ideas or stories that do not fit McClatchy’s mission of providing unique,
differentiated content – freeing the reporter to spend time on unique work that matters to our readers. The sports editor will also monitor reporters’ progress, ensuring everyone has the training and coaching needed to succeed in the audience-focused mission.

The sports editor’s work (or the work of their staff) will be measured by the impact it has in the community, as measured by page views and other engagement-related analytics, such as time spent by readers on stories and social media interactions, as well as adherence to McClatchy’s mission pillars.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• The editor must have the highest journalism ethics and sound judgment; extraordinary skills as an editor.
• Skill and versatility as an editor and a writer, including the ability to shape everything from breaking news to long-form magazine-style pieces in a way that best serves and engages the broadest possible audience.
• Sound news judgment, and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers and to anticipate reader interests before they exist.
• An interest in and aptitude for storytelling using a broad range of media, including the written word, video, photography, podcasts and other audio, and whatever comes next.
• A commitment to understanding issues and topics his or her team reports on.
• A deep understanding of and enthusiasm for the modern, digital news ecosystem.
• A firm grasp of the art and the science of reaching digital readers through search, social media and other distribution channels.
• A complete commitment to defending the values of the First Amendment.
• Holding leaders and institutions accountable and speaking truth to power.

Core Competencies:

• Ability to ask the right questions and discuss alternatives with a reporter or visual journalist to determine whether a story idea is worth pursuing:

Audience:

• Who cares about this (or who should)?
• Is this a big enough group to make the idea worth pursuing the way it is framed?
• Is there a way to extend/expand interest in this subject or information to make the group big enough?
• If the group is small, is it influential enough to allow the story to have a significant impact? Might it save a life, or change a law, or free an innocent person?

Mission:

• Will the story break news that holds leaders or institutions accountable?
• Will the story break news that makes a concrete difference in the community?
• Will the story tell readers how something will directly affect their lives or the lives of their families or friends?
• Will the story use extraordinary, revelatory storytelling to help readers understand a consequential societal issue in new ways?

SKILLS AND DEMONSTRATED ABILITIES:

• To consistently find and frame stories that resonate with the largest possible audience.
• To write compelling headlines and relevant SEO metadata that will help the stories reach that audience.
• To use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to engage with audiences.
• To use analytics such as page views, time on site, referral sources and “shares and likes” to help determine which stories resonate with which audiences.
• Ability to say no when stories are too incremental, lack value or otherwise don’t meet our standards.
• Ability to act as a proxy for our readers, asking the questions they want answered.
• Understanding of metrics, and the ability to discuss with his/her reporters what they mean.
• The ability to collaborate with colleagues throughout the newsroom.
• Strong editing and/or writing skills and excellent news judgment.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including empathy (toward readers and staff) and a superior ear for tone.
• Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, constantly evolving, and more outcome-oriented than task-oriented.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism or related field preferred.
• Two years of leadership experience in a web/analytics-focused sports news environment preferred.

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