Trending News Writer

AgUpdate; Jersey City (NJ); Hybrid; USD 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Advance Local is seeking a Trending News Writer to join our National Trending Team and cover the day’s biggest and hottest stories.

The role requires fast, accurate writing with a strong voice across topics from retail to sports, pop culture and politics. You’ll write multiple stories daily, optimize for SEO, and publish on deadline, with occasional night or weekend shifts for breaking news.

Qualifications

• Degree in Journalism, Communications or related field or equivalent.
• Minimum 1 year of content creation experience, trending writing preferred.
• Strong writing, grammar, and AP style knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Write quick-hitting stories on trends across topics on deadline.
• Cover biggest daily stories and emerge buzzy angles to engage readers.
• Balance light viral content with accuracy and brand voice.
• Publish content on deadline; adjust for breaking news and events.

Skills

Strong writing

AP style

SEO knowledge

Self-publishing

News judgment

Time management

Organizational skills

Audience metrics

Voice in writing

Independent work

Ethics

Social media familiarity

Education

Degree in Journalism or Communications

Tools

Google Trends

Google Discover

Job description

Strengthening and empowering all of the communities we serve.

Do you have a nose for what the internet is talking about right now? Can you write tightly, with lightning speed and an engaging voice, on just about any topic?

Advance Local is searching for an energetic, self-starting, digital-savvy Trending News Writer to join our National Trending Team and help us build on our already expansive reach by covering the biggest and hottest stories of the day.

This person will write quick-hitting stories on whatever is trending, from retail and food to sports, pop culture, celebrities, politics and personal finance, as well as national and international breaking news and viral moments. Depending on the needs of the newsroom, there may eventually be a focus on a specific area of coverage.

This role is about finding the buzzy angles that make people stop scrolling and tap or click to read the story. Candidates should have their finger on the pulse of the internet, whether it's a viral moment that has everyone talking, a product recall readers need to know about, a celebrity headline that won't go away, or a breaking news story where clear, accurate and fast matters most.

We want someone who is eager to serve an audience of curious readers, and who can move comfortably between lighthearted viral content and harder news without losing accuracy or voice.

Candidates should be able to write multiple stories per day, understand the importance of SEO, and be comfortable self-publishing content on deadline. The role is mainly a standard weekday schedule, but flexibility for the occasional night or weekend is required based on breaking news and the calendar.

This is a full-time, staff editorial position on our National Trending Team, which creates content that appears on websites such as AL.com, Cleveland.com, MassLive.com, MLive.com, NJ.com, OregonLive.com, PennLive.com, SILive.com and Syracuse.com.

The base salary range is $50,000-$60,000 per year. This is a remote position.

Our ideal candidate will have the following:

• A degree in Journalism, Communications or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum 1 year of experience in content creation, ideally in trending writing
• Strong writing skills with a command of grammar and AP style
• Knowledge of SEO best practices with an understanding of Google Trends and Discover, with SEO skills that will adapt to moving goal posts
• Clean copy, plus a willingness to write with voice
• Strong news judgment and the ability to get up to speed quickly on unfamiliar topics
• An ability to work independently while prioritizing tasks appropriately
• The poise and organization to handle multiple tasks at once at a fast-moving pace
• A passion for digesting data and understanding audience metrics
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills
• Experience verifying viral claims and social media content before publishing
• Familiarity with sourcing content ideas from X, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms
• A commitment to fairness, diversity, professionalism and ethics