Vice President, Newsroom Strategy - Washington, United States - American Journalism Project

Description

The American Journalism Project is seeking a Vice President of Newsroom Strategy for its Startup Studio team to guide, shape, and ensure the successful creation of new local newsrooms around the country, and to play a critical role in catalyzing excitement for and investment in local news.

The VP, Newsroom Strategy will enable the next wave of the nation's largest local news startups by helping to hire, onboard and support founding newsroom leaders as they launch new organizations.

They will also play a critical role in partnering with local leaders in designing editorial strategies that implement concepts derived from our research into community information needs.

This is a unique opportunity to join a growing, national movement to rebuild local news in communities across the country in a way that better serves the public, while being sustainable and independent.

AJP has raised over $160 million for the cause so far, and aims to catalyze enough investment in nonprofit local news to create a $2 billion sector by 2040, full of thriving, equitable, public service-oriented newsrooms that increase civic engagement and make communities work better for their residents.

Who we are:

We're an entrepreneurial team that's passionate about journalism, civic engagement, and how local news plays a unique role in shaping our democracy.

We help build and grow sustainable local news organizations all over the country — through financial investment, venture support, and movement building — that are governed by, sustained by, and look like the public they serve.

AJP has raised over $150 million for the cause so far, and aims to catalyze enough investment in nonprofit local news to create a $2 billion sector by 2040, full of thriving, equitable, public service-oriented newsrooms that increase civic engagement and make communities work better for their residents.

Our team is deeply connected to our mission and supportive of each other's goals and overall well-being. We aim to be an organization where everyone feels heard, respected, and valued.

We are an entirely remote, distributed team and strive to maintain a healthy, fun, and productive workplace, working alongside smart, energetic colleagues who enjoy one another and the work.

Our values:

- _

Local First:
_We know that local journalism must serve and be led by local communities.

We make a practice of listening to, and making decisions with - not for - those communities, and connecting them to find strength in each other.

- _

Bold Leadership:

_ We understand the severe economic challenge facing local news and thus democracy, and we embrace a sense of possibility with courage, urgency, and perseverance.

- _

Constant Learning:
_We recognize the unknown in front of us. Therefore, we operate with humility and a commitment to continuous improvement and collaboration.
- _Commitment to Equity: _We commit to creating a better, more diverse, and more inclusive news media that advances human and civil rights. We actively fight against injustice and racism, and that starts with doing the work ourselves.
- _Integrity:_ We accept the responsibility of earning trust every day. We operate with honesty, transparency, dignity, and respect, and without allegiance to party, ideology, profit, or power.


Your team:

Our venture philanthropy is catalyzing the nonprofit field by building a portfolio of multi-stage organizations.

We invest growth capital in existing organizations, we are seeding new organizations in partnership with philanthropy and we have incubated talent-led startups prior to their launch.

You will join a team responsible for supporting this portfolio, and be focused on supporting pre-launch organizations to establish outstanding newsroom strategy and operations.

You will report to the head of the Startup Studio, and work closely with a team of dedicated staff and partner consultants who together are responsible for launching exceptional nonprofit local news startup organizations such as Signal Ohio (which operates Signal Cleveland and Signal Akron) and Free Press Indiana (which operates Mirror Indy).

The position:

In this role you will have the following responsibilities:

• Newsroom incubation_
• Bring top journalism talent into local news. Proactively recruit public serviceminded journalism talent at all levels to AJPsupported organizations, draft exciting job descriptions, shepherd the hiring processes for key talent in new newsrooms, then mentor and support that talent through launch.
• Partner with journalism entrepreneurs and startup leaders going through our incubation program and shepherd their newsrooms through successful launch.
• Work with local news startups to develop impactful content strategies that reflect the mission and vision of their organizations, and help them translate that strategy into newsroom structures, staffing plans, editorial workflows, and performance management, while raising standards for diversity, equity, and