Job Description
Vox is looking for a Senior Copy Editor to take a leading role in fact-checking and copy editing Vox's video, audio, and text content.
The ideal candidate for this position is extremely detail-oriented, thrives on deadlines, and is comfortable working both independently and collaboratively across a wide range of subjects. They should have a deep commitment to the highest standards of accuracy, clarity, and transparency in journalism, and to helping fulfill Vox's mission of cultivating diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This role will spend about 50 percent of the time fact-checking, and serve as the primary in-house fact-checker for Vox content. This editor will also copy edit Vox content to ensure it meets our high editorial standards of clarity, accuracy, inclusivity/sensitivity, and balance, as well as being free of typos and grammatical errors and adhering to Vox style.
This role will be part of the Vox style and standards team, the last line of defense before our work goes out to our audience. We're dedicated to ensuring all of our work meets the highest standards of clarity, accuracy, and fairness.
We expect them to have at least four years of copy editing experience, preferably at a digital-first news organization.
What you'll do:
• Work with editors, writers, and freelance fact-checkers to fully and thoroughly fact-check features, investigative reports, and other content as assigned, including contacting sources and subjects, and working with the company legal department to resolve potential issues
• Copy edit Vox content for grammar, spelling, punctuation, house style, and editorial standards of clarity, sensitivity, and fairness
• Conduct sensitivity reads to ensure content represents a diversity of populations and experiences, and acknowledges and interrogates systemic inequities
• Use discretion and independent judgment to determine whether articles meet our standard for publication and work with senior team members to resolve potential problems
• Read, evaluate, and edit all unpublished works using the following criteria:
• Clarity, accuracy, sensitivity, and inclusivity
• Adherence to best practices with regard to sensitive topics, legal liability, and inflammatory language
• Proper Vox style, spelling, and grammar
• Assist senior team members in setting publishing standards:
• Be instrumental in setting and upholding standards for fact-checking Vox content, including developing training materials, providing staff education on best practices, and implementing site-wide corrections policies
• Learn Vox style inside and out and serve as expert adviser for staff, including answering questions in the Style channel
• Identify stylistic issues or inconsistencies and discuss with the team to determine a solution
• Work with editors to ensure Vox content foregrounds diversity, equity, and inclusivity through story angles, sourcing, image choice, and other elements
• Assist team in implementing homepage strategy, including adjusting display type and images as needed
Qualifications:
• At least four years' experience in copy editing, preferably for a digital-first news organization
• At least two years' formal fact-checking experience (experience with fact-checking data a bonus)
• An eagle eye for mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation and meticulous attention to detail
• A commitment to the highest journalistic standards of accuracy, clarity, and sensitivity/inclusivity
• The ability to work quickly and collaboratively under tight deadlines amid a busy news environment
• Familiarity with AP style a plus
This is a full-time position, with working hours Monday through Friday. Candidates may be remote or in-office (Washington, DC).
*This role is a part of the Vox Media Union, represented by the Writers Guild of America, East
Vox Media is dedicated to the health and wellbeing of all of our employees. All employees in our offices are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Please note that our Recruiting Team will only contact you from @voxmedia.com email addresses, and we will never contact you via text message.
Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d982ez-18-213-4-140-42 in your application.