Managing Editor

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Opportunity Available: Managing Editor

Job Description: Managing Editor, The Daily Catch  

The Daily Catch

Location: Red Hook / Rhinebeck / Clinton, NY in the Hudson Valley of New York State (not Red Hook, Brooklyn)

Position: Full-time

Benefits

• 3 weeks PTO
• 12 paid holidays
• Moving allowance
• Health insurance stipend

Salary Range:

• $100,000-$120,000, commensurate with experience

The Daily Catch , a dynamic, award-winning, non-profit digital news site covering Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and nearby environs in New York‘s Hudson Valley, seeks a managing editor to help lead the organization’s day-to-day news coverage and operations while playing a key role in charting newsroom strategy. 

Reporting directly to the founder and editor-in-chief, the ideal candidate has sharp news judgment, is a skilled editor, is highly ethical, and enjoys working collaboratively to produce outstanding local coverage. 

We’re looking for a confident leader with at least 5 years of newsroom experience as an editor or a senior reporter with proven ability to lead coverage, make sound editorial decisions, coach and mentor staff, ensure workflows are efficient, and meet deadlines.

Why join us?

Now in our fifth year, The Daily Catch is known for deep reporting of government news and community issues, training young journalists, and active community engagement. As a non-profit, we have significant financial support from our readers as well as from major donors and foundations, industry grants, local advertisers, and sponsors. 

As the organization enters its next phase of growth, the managing editor will be an important partner in shaping our vision and success. In addition to our robust website, we produce an array of popular newsletters, a weekly podcast, and we post stories, photos and videos to social media every day. 

Northern Dutchess County, New York, where we operate, is a vibrant, culturally rich region that offers an exceptional quality of life. The area blends rural charm and scenic beauty with a highly engaged and intellectually curious population. The area is enriched by Bard College, Catskills hiking trails, rolling farmland, historic hamlets, proximity to national historic sites such as the Vanderbilt and FDR estates, dining opportunities at local restaurants and the Culinary Institute of America, well-known art, music, dance, and theatre venues, and access to New York City via Amtrak and MetroNorth train service.

Key Responsibilities of the job:

• Provide strong editorial leadership and recommendations for news coverage and enterprise, working in close partnership with the Editor-in-Chief (EIC).
• Directly assign and edit stories of two reporters, manage our part-time senior editor and read behind him, and help the EIC guide the work of other editorial employees as needed. (We have three full-time reporters, each of whom covers both municipal government and a subject beat, and we have just hired an arts and entertainment reporter. We also engage freelance contributors.) 
• Develop and maintain daily and weekly coverage plans across text, video, and visual storytelling formats.  
• Edit stories for accuracy, clarity, tone, and narrative strength and help ensure all coverage meets the highest standards for accuracy, fairness, ethics, and transparency.
• Help ensure newsletters are well organized in terms of story hierarchy, have engaging headlines, smart intros, and are well-edited.
• Collaborate with the EIC to shape editorial priorities and long-term coverage strategies.
• Help build newsroom production systems that are sustainable, humane, and rigorous.
• Meet with community leaders and develop an informed point of view on the political, arts, and education landscape here.
• Work with the EIC and publisher on supporting business development and integrated projects that cross both editorial operations and revenue generation.

About the Founder & Editor-in-Chief

The Daily Catch was founded in 2021 by Emily Sachar, an award-winning journalist, editor, and entrepreneur with a long-standing commitment to rigorous reporting and beautifully crafted prose. She launched her career with an internship under Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward before joining Newsday/NY Newsday for 14 years. With Publisher Walter Mullin, Emily has built The Daily Catch from the ground up with the conviction that small communities deserve journalism that is as careful, ambitious, and well-written as that found in much larger markets. Training young reporters is a crucial second leg of the mission.

Note:

If you recently applied for a similar position (Executive Editor) with our team, please consider applying anew. We are still seeking the right candidate for this opportunity.

How to apply:

Please submit the following to Pam Fine, editorial advisor, at pam@thedailycatch.org:

• a resume
• a cover letter explaining how you would approach the role and your plans for relocation 
• 3-5 examples of work you have edited or shaped with explanations of your role for each.