Deputy Editor, Breaking News and Live

Hearst; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The San Francisco Chronicle, part of Hearst, seeks a Deputy Editor for Breaking News and Live coverage in San Francisco. This role oversees real-time news, live blogs and rolling updates, shaping how readers experience developing stories across platforms.

Ideal candidates bring strong news judgment, expertise in digital storytelling and a strategic eye for audience engagement. Flexibility to work nights, weekends and holidays is required in a rotating schedule.

Qualifications

• At least two years’ experience at a daily newspaper, magazine or web publication or the equivalent as a reporter and/or editor.
• Strong news judgment and instinct for what matters to Bay Area readers.
• Experience with live blogs, rolling coverage, real-time updates or another form of continuous digital journalism.
• Excellent editing, headline-writing and digital-production skills.
• An understanding of how to use real-time data and audience signals to inform editorial decisions.

Responsibilities

• Monitor for, assign and edit stories on breaking news and emerging developments.
• Launch and edit live blogs and other rolling coverage.
• Help develop an evolving editorial approach to live journalism.
• Increase the volume and range of the Chronicle’s live journalism by identifying opportunities across major coverage arenas: breaking news, elections, severe weather, major public events, sports and other high-interest moments.
• Use audience data to evaluate live coverage and improve its format, cadence, reach and usefulness.
• Help test live storytelling formats, tools and workflows across web, app, alerts, newsletters and social platforms.
• Participate in an editing rotation that may include nights, weekends and holidays.

Skills

News judgment

Editing

Live blog experience

Digital production

Audience data signals

AI tools

Tools

AI tools

Automation workflows

Job description

Deputy Editor, Breaking News and Live

The San Francisco Chronicle seeks an editor to help expand the way we cover news in real time and oversee our live news operation.

This editor will have two central responsibilities: monitoring, assigning and editing daily breaking news; and helping the Chronicle uplevel and expand our “live” coverage. The role is ideal for an editor with strong news judgment and an appetite for audience strategy and emerging forms of digital storytelling.

They will help determine what matters right now, how quickly we need to respond and the best way to serve readers as a story develops. They will also help build a stronger, more consistent live-journalism operation under the direction of senior leadership. This could include launching and editing live blogs, coming up with new ways to publish rolling updates on developing news stories, real-time explainers, event coverage, alerts and other emerging formats that help readers understand what is happening.

In particular, this editor must be interested in using artificial intelligence tools and automated systems to help drive breaking news discovery and content delivery to readers. This position reports to the Breaking News Editor and will work especially closely with the audience team on live coverage.

Responsibilities

• Monitor for, assign and edit stories on breaking news and emerging developments.

• Launch and edit live blogs and other rolling coverage.

• Help develop an evolving editorial approach to live journalism.

• Increase the volume and range of the Chronicle’s live journalism by identifying opportunities across major coverage arenas: breaking news, elections, severe weather, major public events, sports and other high-interest moments.

• Use audience data to evaluate live coverage and improve its format, cadence, reach and usefulness.

• Help test live storytelling formats, tools and workflows across web, app, alerts, newsletters and social platforms.

• Participate in an editing rotation that may include nights, weekends and holidays.

Qualifications

• At least two years’ experience at a daily newspaper, magazine or web publication or the equivalent as a reporter and/or editor

• Strong news judgment and instinct for what matters to Bay Area readers.

• Experience with live blogs, rolling coverage, real-time updates or another form of continuous digital journalism.

• Excellent editing, headline-writing and digital-production skills.

• An understanding of how to use real-time data and audience signals to inform editorial decisions.

This is a full-time position based in San Francisco. The role requires flexibility to work nights, weekends and holidays as part of a rotating breaking-news and live-coverage schedule.

In accordance with applicable law, Hearst is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role if hired in California. The reasonable estimate is between $80,000 and $100,000. A final decision on the successful candidate’s starting salary will be based on a number of permissible, non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to skills and experience, training, certifications, and education.

About SF Chronicle:

The San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfchronicle.com) is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence.

HNP Overview:

With 2,500 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers (HNP) represents a network of 28 daily and 50 weekly publications, including the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union (Albany). Our portfolio also includes several top digital-only news and lifestyle sites such as Chron., CT Insider, MySA and SFGATE, along with marketing services businesses like Medium Giant and entertainment brands such as King Features Syndicate.

At HNP, we’re investing in new and innovative ways to tell stories — growing newsrooms, diversifying tools and evolving platforms — to support the millions of people who trust us each month to help them make decisions, take action and be inspired.

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