Deputy Editor Job at Society for Scholarly Publishing in New York

NOTE: DO NOT AUTO-APPLY FOR THIS ROLE. PLEASE READ THE APPLICATION PROTOCOL CAREFULLY.

Position Available: Deputy Editor

Overview: The Daily Catch, the hyperlocal online newspaper of Northern Dutchess County in New York’s Hudson Valley, seeks a Deputy Editor to join our growing editorial team. The role is a part-time position requiring 20-25 hours per week and will report to the Editor-in-Chief. Several times a year, we would like the Deputy Editor to run the newspaper so the EIC can take vacation. This is an excellent opportunity for a seasoned professional looking for a late-career opportunity or a freelance editor who has the ability to take on an additional assignment.

This is a remote work position. Our preference is for a candidate who lives near Red Hook or Rhinebeck, New York or has familiarity with the area.

Key Responsibilities:

• Top-edit and line-edit articles across multiple story types – news stories, features, and enterprise – that cover a range of topics, from government to education, environment to health care, farming to housing.
• Mentor young reporters on all facets of story production: workshopping and writing leads, finding good quotes, establishing story structure, fact-checking, developing sources, and more.
• Help reporters brainstorm supporting visual materials for their stories: maps, photos, graphs, charts, etc.
• Guide staff reporters in developing story ideas on their beats and beyond.
• Produce stories in our content management system (we can train you for this role).
• Fact-check articles and ensure compliance with editorial standards.
• Assist the Editor-in-Chief with developing and implementing editorial strategy.

Required Skills:

• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Strong command of grammar, style, story structure, and clarity.
• Journalistic acumen: Deep understanding of reporting techniques, news gathering, and ethical practices.
• Keen ability to see missing facts or angles and to guide reporters on how to fill them.
• Mentoring mindset: Ability to coach, motivate, and inspire young writers who are working at the paper as their first job.
• Strategic thinking: Capability to develop innovative approaches to news and features.
• Collegiality: Deep interest in being in a critical no. 2 role beside a demanding and reasonable editor, who is also the paper’s founder.

To Apply: Please send a cover letter that shows you understand the sort of approach to journalism taken at The Daily Catch and explain why you would fit in. Also include a curriculum vitae or resume, and several clips with explainers (either your work or work you edited). Send to Editor Emily Sachar, emily@thedailycatch.org, by Feb. 28, 2025. Make sure the work samples are viewable (provide password if needed).

About The Daily Catch: Founded in 2021, The Daily Catch is the award-winning non-profit, non-partisan hyperlocal online news site covering the towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York. We have grown very rapidly, a testament to the need for local news in small markets and, we hope, to our approach and commitment to serving up a wide range of interesting stories. Our missions are two: to do a marvelous job covering our two primary towns and to train the next generation of reporters. We currently have 9,400 readers on the Web and 4,000+ on Instagram and Facebook. We are winners of a prestigious PressForward two-year grant that is funding this editorial role. Read more about us here.

Note: This position does not include health benefits.

Salary: $40,000-$45,000 per year, commensurate with skills and experience.

The Daily Catch is an equal-opportunity employer.