Investigations Editor

Atlanta Educ. Telecomm. Collab•Atlanta, GA

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

WABE is seeking an Investigations Editor to join its 21-person news team. This role will lead enterprise projects with beat reporters, morning and evening shows, and the digital team, with opportunities for reporting projects. The editor will work in a multimedia setting, overseeing projects for radio, digital, and social media in collaboration with the managing editor, deputy managing editor, and senior editor of digital. The position does not directly manage staff but has potential for future growth in management. The investigations editor will be part of the senior editor and producer group, requiring significant collaboration across the newsroom. Strong organizational skills, deadline management, and the ability to handle multiple long-term projects with various individuals are essential. The role will focus on developing a high level of knowledge in education and/or housing beats for reporting projects, and will also lead investigative reporting in politics, health, environment, business, criminal justice, immigration, and Southside beats. The investigations editor will participate in a weekend editor rotation and may be required to fill in for other editorial positions.

Requirements

Strong editor who believes in the importance of news media.
Strong work ethic.
High level of journalistic integrity.
Understanding of audio storytelling.
Reliable, trustworthy, receptive to feedback and willing to grow and adapt.
Ability to brainstorm, design, edit, and help produce award-winning level investigative reports that have impact in our community.
Knowledge of AP style and audio editing techniques desired.
A desired 10+ years of experience in journalism with at least 5+ years focused on investigative journalism.
Willingness to work in a hybrid environment.
Must provide own transportation to the station.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of AP style and audio editing techniques.

Responsibilities

Works with reporters to develop investigative story ideas from tips, data, documents, or leads.
Assesses newsworthiness, feasibility, and risk before greenlighting a project.
Sets reporting plans and timelines for multi-week or multi-month investigations.
Directs the use of public records requests (FOIA/state laws), data analysis, document review, and source cultivation.
Advises reporters on interview strategy, especially for sensitive interviews.
Helps reporters build and organize evidence files.
Line-edits and structurally edits long-form investigative pieces, ensuring the narrative supports the central finding.
Works with reporters through multiple drafts.
Edits for accuracy, fairness, and clarity across print, digital, and audio formats.
Coordinates with legal counsel on defamation, privacy, and records-access risk.
Ensures pre-publication review process is followed.
Manages 'right of reply' outreach to subjects of investigations.
Upholds source protection and verification standards.
Coordinates with visual team, audio producers, and photo/video staff on multi-platform packages.
Manages cross-newsroom or cross-station collaborations.
Allocates reporter time and data budgets in association with the managing editor.
Trains reporters in investigative methods (records requests, data tools, source development).
Enforces ethical standards around anonymous sourcing and documentation.
Conducts post-mortems on published investigations.
Monitors and documents real-world impact of investigations (policy changes, legal action, public response) for grant reporting or awards submissions.