The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is seeking an editor with a passion for local government, policy, and power to support our team as a Documenters assignment editor.

This editor will be a critical part of the newsroom team, which will include service journalism and community reporters as well as beat reporters focused on government, education, criminal justice and economics. They will help manage the deployment of Documenters, editing and reviewing some of the content produced from Documenter assignments, and writing a newsletter summarizing Documenters notes from the week. They will work to ensure Documenters’ work is reflected in newsroom output (e.g., identifying opportunities in meeting coverage for stories/deeper reporting, identifying new civic tools, and identifying opportunities for first-person accounts from Documenters to accompany reporting). As needed, they will produce explainers and how-to videos and hold office hours to assist the Documenters community with the work of documenting public meetings. They will lend an extra set of eyes to explainers, and will lead reporting that emerges from Documenters work.

This role is a great fit for you if you believe that getting more people engaged with local government is an important way to create a more equitable society. Strong candidates will also be passionate about distilling complicated topics into conversational and easy-to-understand language, and helping train a diverse group of Los Angeles residents in the nuts and bolts of reporting and meeting coverage.

Founded in 2024, the L.A. Local News Initiative is a coalition of organizations and philanthropists that have come together to support local news in L.A.. Guided by a community listening effort that included input from nearly 900 L.A. residents, this coalition represents a groundbreaking effort by philanthropy, media, and community organizations in L.A. to work together to fill information gaps, strengthen local democracy and make L.A. work better for Angelenos.

With nearly $15 million raised so far, the new initiative will take a multi-pronged ecosystem approach to ensure all L.A. communities have free access to the information they need to be more civically engaged, to thrive and to hold decision makers accountable:

• It is investing in expansion of a community-centered, hyperlocal model developed by Boyle Heights Beat, a trusted newsroom serving Boyle Heights and East L.A., so that more communities in L.A. can get quality, independent news relevant to their neighborhoods, produced by people who are rooted in their communities.
• It will facilitate investments to add reporting resources in the region through investments in regionwide beats and state government reporting from the perspective of Los Angeles at LAist and CalMatters, made available to ecosystem partners, and continue to rally philanthropy to advance local news as a mechanism for civic engagement
• It will foster collaboration among ecosystem partners, by coordinating content sharing, and providing shared resources that will help existing news outlets in L.A. do more reporting and bring more journalism to more people

These strategies were formed following extensive research and community listening done in partnership between local civic leaders and the American Journalism Project, which included input from nearly 900 Angelenos spanning a wide range of ages, genders, races, ethnicities, incomes, professions, and neighborhoods.

• Free, Independent Local Press: We believe all Angelenos deserve to have a source of unbiased information that equips them to thrive in their daily lives. Our work will meet high journalism standards, be independent, non-partisan, and free to access. We’ll prioritize reaching as many Angelenos as possible, in the most effective ways possible.
• Community-first: We center the needs of local communities, with an ultimate goal to strengthen communities and make LA work better for Angelenos. Journalism should be focused on serving people most affected by the subject matter, and equipping them to take action.
• Equity & Inclusion: We need a representative, equitable, and inclusive local press. Newsrooms should be representative of the communities they cover, shift narratives to be centered on community perspectives, and provide pathways into newsgathering for residents.
• Trust: We believe that building trust must be a core principle of our journalism. As a baseline, the journalism we support must be accurate, independent, unbiased, non-partisan, and a trusted source of shared facts by the communities we serve.

As a Documenters Assignment Editor, you will:

• Edit, fact-check and approve Documenters content daily and on deadline
• Make and manage assignments for Documenters, in collaboration with the Engagement Director
• Provide written and verbal feedback to Documenters
• Produce a newsletter based on Documenters content
• Help run regular training sessions for Documenters, along with other community listening events
• Create guides and videos to support Documenters in their work of documenting
• Consult with and support reporters and editors on editorial coverage about local government and civic power
• Support our newsroom community events

• You share the Los Angeles Local News Initiative’s commitment to a community-centered newsroom that engages and empowers residents
• You have strong communication skills, and are passionate about journalistic writing and editing
• You have excellent fact-checking and copy-editing skills, and are detail oriented
• You have a basic knowledge of local policy-making and the ways that people can get involved in local government
• You are able to quickly learn about complex issues and prioritize information
• You have excellent time-management skills and an ability to work on deadline
• You have experience with technology like Airtable and Google spreadsheets, or are willing to learn
• You have 1 - 3 years in relevant fields such as journalism, community organizing and/or political campaigning
• You’re flexible and entrepreneurial — you can thrive in a startup environment where you are expected to learn as you go and think outside the box
• You are able to to work evenings and weekends as needed

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $75,000-$85,000.

We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. We encourage people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations, and marital statuses to apply.