Southwest Voices is seeking a Founding Editor with a passion for community-driven news to build, guide, and lead the editorial strategy during our organization’s launch as we build a brand new news and information source for Southwest Minneapolis.
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Prospective candidates should have an intimate understanding of what makes Minneapolis special and the need to challenge it to become better. You must be good at spotting stories, issues, and information as they’re developing.
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The perfect candidate for this position can assign, edit and even write breaking news stories speedily and with a sharp eye for accuracy and fairness. Applicants must be comfortable supervising a group of reporters and freelancers, line editing, helping reporters find sources and make their stories better and working with the Southwest Voices leadership team to ensure we’re providing interesting, relevant and impactful coverage of the neighborhoods we serve.

You Should Consider Applying If

• You believe that we are a stronger, more inclusive community when the largest number of people are heard from and involved
• You have a nose for news, can find stories where others might not, and can condense complex information into a digestible format
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  This person will also be a critical part of the founding team of Southwest Voices. This is an opportunity to be on the ground floor of a brand new experiment in delivering people information about what’s going on around them.

‍Responsibilities

As the Southwest Voices Founding Editor you will:

• Drive the editorial vision and execution for the organization
• Build out our stable of writers, whether those people have been doing it for 10 years or 10 minutes
• Strong news judgment, writing and copy-editing skills.
• Reporting and/or editing experience for a daily news organization with strong digital presence
• Willingness to mentor younger reporters

‍Requirements

• Understanding of the vision for building Southwest Voices alongside the community, not separate from them
• Strong writing and editing ability
• Ability to condense complex information into a more simple, consumable format
• Previous experience with Webflow, Pico, and Mailchimp OR the ability to quickly learn new software tools
• Excellent fact-checking and organizational skills
• Basic knowledge of public policy in the City of Minneapolis
• Understanding of and commitment to Southwest Voices’ core values, mission and vision
• Ability to work independently Ability and willingness to identify and appeal to a diverse set of stakeholders

‍Compensation and Benefits

• $75,000 salary
• Benefits package including health care, dental, and vision insurance
• Work tools stipend
• Unlimited paid vacation and sick days in addition to 8 paid company holidays
• Flexible work schedule - some night/weekend hours may be required
• Flexible remote working environment with some inter-city travel as required

About Southwest Voices

Southwest Voices is a news and information service for Southwest Minneapolis, serving the neighborhoods of Tangletown, Kingfield, Lyndale, West Bde Mka Ska, ECCO, East Harriet, Lynnhurst, Fulton, Windom, South Uptown, Kenny, Armatage, Lowry Hill East / The Wedge, Whittier, and Linden Hills.

We believe this corner of the city deserves a news source that both celebrates its strengths and reveals its shortcomings so it can become a more welcoming and genuinely caring community.
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We believe that we, the residents of Southwest Minneapolis, are capable of telling our own story. We use email, text messaging, and other communications channels to cultivate a conversation with residents living in every neighborhood. ‍We report not just what’s happening in the community, but also what’s possible when everyone’s voice can be heard.
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We will build Southwest Voices with the residents of Southwest Minneapolis. We can’t do this alone – we need your help. If you don’t trust us, we aren’t doing our jobs. In exchange, we hope that you’ll tell us what you need, to push us to be better, and to help us grow in a way that best serves you and your neighbors.
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We believe our newsroom doesn’t begin or end at our doors, it lives in every single corner of this community. We want to help it become a place where everyone feels welcome. We will both celebrate its strengths and challenge it to become better. We want to help offer solutions, not focus on talking about problems.
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We believe quality local journalism should be available to everyone, and support from our members allows us to do that. We aim to put together a front page for Southwest Minneapolis, delivered free to the inboxes of everyone in our community each day. You deserve to know what’s going on in your neighborhood, how your money is being spent, and to have a sense of optimism about the way the place that you live is growing and changing.
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We believe in local news that listens before it speaks, and elevates the voices of people across the community. Support from our members allows us to directly invest in bringing more local news from more voices across the community.
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We don’t make money off of clicks, comments, shares, rage, or fear, and we create journalism that reflects that.
We love this place, and we love you too. Thank you for reading, for being here, and for your support. It wouldn’t be possible without you.

To apply: Send a note introducing yourself and your resume to info@southwestvoices.news.