Audience Editor, Entertainment

USA TODAY; United States; Remote; USD 93,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

USA TODAY is seeking an innovative Audience Editor for Entertainment to lead audience engagement strategy. You will drive growth across entertainment coverage, leveraging social media, newsletters and search while guiding a small team of content creators.

You will interpret data and trends, collaborate with newsroom leadership, and translate strategy into measurable actions in a fast-paced environment. Located in New York or Los Angeles, with extended hours as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field preferred or equivalent experience.
• At least 5 years of newsroom experience with management, preferably in audience development for a digitally focused media org.
• Proven storytelling ability via social media, search and newsletters across multiple platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategies to rapidly achieve audience growth on search, social and newsletters.
• Monitor analytics and translate data into action steps for journalists and teams.
• Lead audience planning for major events and breaking news.
• Create or optimize audience-focused content during major events.
• Collaborate with monetization teams to grow audience on channels.
• Manage a team of content creators ensuring consistent brand strategy and execution.
• Create and monitor KPI progress tied to loyalty and engagement metrics.

Skills

Audience development

Social media storytelling

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in communications, journalism, marketing

Tools

Google Analytics

Parse.ly

Salesforce

Hootsuite

Echobox

Job description

Posted by: Jennifer Hefty, Senior Director of Engagement Strategy

|Current USA TODAY Co. Employees- Please ensure you are using our abbreviated process on the internal Careers site by logging into Dayforce through MyApps| USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including our network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where and when consumers want to engage. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. USA TODAY Co. open roles are featured on various external job boards. When applying to a position at USA TODAY Co., you should be completing an application on USA TODAY Co. CareersviaDayforce. Job postings directing you to complete an application on other external sites may not be valid. If you are a California resident, you acknowledge that by applying for a job with us, this California Job Applicant Privacy Notice will apply to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information. To connect with us, visit www.usatodayco.com

Audience Editor, Entertainment

USA TODAY is looking for an innovative, high-energy, data-driven Audience Editor to lead audience engagement strategy for our Entertainment coverage.

As a key member of our reimagined USA TODAY audience team, you will utilize your expertise to enhance audience growth, engagement and revenue generation for USA TODAY Entertainment. This role is right for you if you’re passionate about entertainment, from movies and music to television, celebrity news, books and content creators. You understand how audiences discover and engage with entertainment coverage and continually explore new opportunities across social media, video, newsletters, search and emerging platforms. You combine strong news judgment with audience insights to test new approaches, identify opportunities and turn successful ideas into repeatable strategies.

The ideal candidate is as comfortable interpreting data and platform analytics as they are connecting with audiences on TikTok, Reddit, Instagram or through a newsletter. You understand that the audience is at the heart of everything we do. You will also be expected to monitor trends in the broader creator industry and identify ways to translate relevant tactics into strategies for our newsrooms.

This highly-collaborative role will be accountable for translating broader business and newsroom strategies into actionable steps for the journalists on the Entertainment team. The successful candidate will oversee a small team of content creators to put our best foot forward at every step of the audience journey. As such, you should be comfortable leading through both direct management and influence, building productive relationships with peers and partners throughout the organization.

The right editor will embrace the opportunity to introduce new ideas, improve established practices and help colleagues adapt to a rapidly evolving audience landscape. You will bring energy, resilience and a commitment to turning strategy into measurable action.

This role may require working extended hours, including evenings, weekends and holidays, sometimes unexpectedly, when news requires it.

This role must be based in New York or Los Angeles.

Responsibilities:

• Develop strategies, workflows and best practices to rapidly achieve audience growth on search, social and newsletters in collaboration with the greater USA TODAY audience team and the USA TODAY Entertainment leadership team.
• Monitor analytics for USA TODAY Entertainment both on platform and on social, in newsletters and alerts, translating that data into action steps for journalists on your direct team and on the broader Entertainment team.
• Lead audience planning for major events, tentpoles and breaking news, determining how our journalism should be packaged, distributed and presented at each stage of the audience journey.
• Create, edit or optimize audience-focused content during major events and breaking news when needed.
• Partner with the content monetization team on new efforts to monetize our journalism and grow audience on social media and distributed platform channels.
• Manage a team of content creators charged with ensuring consistent brand strategy, voice and execution across platforms for USA TODAY Entertainment, including social channels, newsletters, section fronts, app alerts and wherever our journalism meets the audience.
• Create and monitor reporting and KPI progress, including metrics for loyalty, engagement, relevance and other business goals.
• Be an innovative, creative thinker that is willing to experiment to support company's goals.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least 5 years of newsroom experience, including management, preferably in an audience development role at a digitally-focused media organization with expertise in entertainment. Journalism experience is mandatory.
• A proven passion and experience with storytelling via social media, search and newsletters, with expertise in platforms such as Reddit, Discord, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook, Threads and more.
• Passion for helping news organizations distribute indispensable journalism and building trusted relationships with readers.
• Proactive leader who can manage their time and prioritize tasks independently.
• Devotion to peer-to-peer training, as both a teacher and student.

Technical specifications:

• Experience using Google Analytics and Parse.ly or similar tools, experience with using AI to analyze data is a plus.
• Expertise in platform-specific data tools such as Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and Salesforce is required.
• Experience with third-party distribution tools like Hootsuite, True Anthem and Echobox is preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to effectively convey findings and recommendations to diverse stakeholders.
• Familiarity with news products and journalism and understanding of media analytics and ethics.

The annualized base salary for this role will range between $93,000 and $95,000. Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications and experience. Note: variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable.

USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a diverse workforce. As such, we will consider all qualified applicants for employment and do not discriminate in connection with employment decisions on the basis of an applicant or employee’s race, color, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, marital status, personal appearance (including height and weight), sexual orientation, family responsibilities, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy status (including childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), education, genetic characteristics or information, political affiliation, military or veteran status or other classifications protected by applicable federal, state and local laws in the jurisdictions where USA TODAY Co. employs employees. In addition, USA TODAY Co., Inc. will provide applicants who require a reasonable accommodation, as a result of an applicant’s disability or religion, to complete this employment application and/or any other process in connection with an individuals’ application for employment with USA TODAY Co., Inc. Applicants who require such accommodation should contact USA TODAY Co., Inc.’s Recruitment Department at [e-mail]. Applicants must be authorized to work in the applicable location. Applications from outside these regions will be removed from our system after submission.