Job Details

Texas is the place where politics, social issues and immigration all collide to make for one dynamic place to be a political editor.

As such, The Dallas Morning News is seeking an editor who can help our team produce revelatory and impactful journalism about Texas politics, which is often at the forefront of significant issues that play out across our nation.

This editor must have a strategic vision for how The Dallas Morning News can set its coverage apart in ways that go deep on the most important issues, drive conversations that help our readers understand and is innovative and informative.

This editor will oversee another editor and a team of reporters based in Dallas, Austin and Washington, D.C. 

The ideal candidate will have experience and interest in growing and developing journalists of varying levels of experience. He or she should be an inclusive political thinker and sensitive to weeding out bias and tone in writing and story ideas. 

He or she will have a digital-first mindset and excel at helping reporters find and develop stories that meet our four pillars of journalism — urgent, aggressive, revelatory and inspiring — to attract and retain readers. This team is expected to break political news and to produce a mix of mid- and long-term enterprise investigation and accountability stories that probe, question, and seek solutions. 

The editor must understand the political landscape locally, in Texas and in Washington with the goal of covering politics with a North Texas focus. The editor also must demonstrate a talent for close collaboration with the political staff and with reporters and editors throughout the newsroom. Applicants must be able to lead people, plan for elections, events and coverage in advance, manage assignments and coordinate efforts with other departments through shifting circumstances.

The position will require analysis of data regarding audience goals. Applicants should have social media skills and be knowledgeable about basic analytics; digital story building with links, tags and SEO; multimedia storytelling; and headline writing.

The position will report to the Senior Editor of News.

Among the duties and responsibilities, the political editor will:

• Guide bureau chiefs and reporters in Austin, Dallas and Washington, D.C. to lead state coverage of major issues with a North Texas focus.

• Guide reporters to find new, creative storytelling approaches that resonate with readers. 

• Maintain a political calendar and long-range budget. 

• Edit stories with a digital-first emphasis.

• Ensure stories are reported fairly, accurately and thoroughly, with sharp, compelling writing.

• Ensure stories feature a variety of grassroots and expert sources reflecting the state’s diverse population. 

• Communicate with other teams during news events that require cross-team collaboration.

• Work closely with the visual, graphics and interactive teams on stories.

• Work closely with the Audience team to promote stories.

• Write headlines that sell a story across platforms.

• Adhere to company values and newsroom guidelines, including standards of journalism ethics.

Here’s our list of preferred skills and experience: (Please note this is not a checklist of requirements, but should be considered as a pool of preferred qualifications. If you can already do some of these things, great. If you're excited about figuring out how to do all of them, great! We'd love to hear from you either way.".)

• At least 10  years’ related experience in newspaper reporting and editing is ideal, as well as a bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field.

• Demonstrated strong writing and editing skills.

• Prior political reporting or editing experience is preferred.

• Familiarity with Texas and Texas politics is a plus. 

• Applicants must be able to lead people, manage assignments and coordinate efforts with other departments in fast-moving situations and to develop talent. 

• An inclusive and diverse leadership style is mandatory.