Audience Editor, Chron

Description

The company is working to grow its Texas audience. This role links the newsroom and audience reach: you help strong journalism travel further across social, search, newsletters and video, and build closer, more direct ties with Texas readers who come for news, culture and everyday interest.

The team wants someone who already reads the publication, knows its voice (sharp, fresh and distinctly Texan), thinks strategically and can execute hands-on.

Success is measured by healthy referral channels from search, social, newsletters and Google News, growth in followers and engagement, traffic back to site content, subscriber and newsletter growth, and more unique in-DMA audiences and repeat visitors from target Texas growth markets.

The hard parts are spotting coverage ideas that match audience wants or trending searches the company can own, testing new ideas and changing course as the media landscape shifts, and understanding habits well enough to keep loyal readers while attracting new ones across Texas.

Responsibilities

• Build audience growth plans across social, video, newsletters and emerging platforms, and lead a team of two audience producers.
• Plan promotion for special editorial projects across site, social, video, newsletter and search optimization.
• Prepare audience plans for major initiatives and fast-moving Texas stories, including RodeoHouston, severe weather, elections, sports, restaurants, travel and statewide projects.
• Analyze performance data, spot trends and openings, and adjust strategy to reach audiences where they are.
• Join morning editorial meetings to share pacing and trending search terms and suggest stories based on known audience interests.
• Create and publish engaging text, image and video content that grows social following, earns shares, sends people back to the site and supports subscriber and newsletter growth.
• Run the company's social accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Nextdoor, X, Bluesky, Threads and LinkedIn, plus any others added later.
• Monitor and answer audience questions, comments and complaints on social, and work with editorial leadership on how to handle them.
• Advise reporters and editors on social trends, story ideas arriving through social and search, and how to write and optimize for each platform.
• Own the off-platform video strategy and help reporters and editors decide when video is the best way to tell a story.
• Shoot and edit short vertical video and publish it to the site and social channels.
• Build the team's skills in video production, social strategy and AI-assisted optimization.
• Work with editors, reporters and other stakeholders on promotion plans and campaigns, and keep up with best practices in video, search and social.

Requirements

• 3+ years of relevant experience in audience, social or video publishing strategy; people-management experience preferred.
• A degree in journalism, communications, marketing or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Solid knowledge of Houston and Texas and an instinct for stories that could travel statewide.
• SEO experience, using search trends, Google Discover and Google News signals and audience data to find coverage opportunities.
• Fluency in social and video across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit and Nextdoor.
• Ability to shoot and edit vertical video, with experience in CapCut, Canva or similar tools.
• Sharp writing, copy editing and communication skills, including social copy in the company's voice with accuracy, clarity and Texas wit.
• Strong news judgment, comfortable with breaking news and clear on when to escalate to newsroom leadership.
• Curiosity about AI and skill using it for audience insights, routine tasks and efficiency, while verifying its output and relying on human judgment.
• Experience with social scheduling tools, analytics platforms and performance reporting.
• Flexibility in a fast-paced, always-on news environment.

Conditions

You can act independently on writing social copy, designing visuals, posting stories and social video to the site and social channels, setting the newsletter content mix, deciding when to issue site alerts, sharing pacing data and surfacing trending terms worth pursuing.

Long-term social, search and audience strategy decisions and the wording of sensitive breaking news alerts belong to editorial leadership.

The position does not offer immigration sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

The company is committed to an accessible application process and offers accommodations on request.

Benefits

• The company supports personal and professional development, plus physical, financial and emotional wellbeing for employees and their families.
• Medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your family.
• Retirement plan with a matching program in most markets.
• Generous paid time off, including holidays and vacation.
• Paid parental leave for growing families and new parents.
• Monthly reimbursement for child and dependent care.
• Mental wellness benefits.
• Inclusive healthcare designed around individual needs, including LGBTQ+ care.
• Fertility coverage and menopause support.
• Pet wellness reimbursement and pet-care platform credits.
• Further benefit details are available on the company's benefits page.