WTOL 11 Story Desk Editor

TEGNA • Toledo, OH

18h • Hybrid

About The Position

WTOL 11, the TEGNA-owned CBS affiliate in Toledo, Ohio, is seeking a Story Desk Editor to help lead coverage across its newsroom. This hybrid role combines the responsibilities of an assignment editor and a digital content producer, acting as a central hub for daily news operations. The Story Desk Editor will drive editorial decisions, coordinate coverage, publish content, and ensure journalism reaches audiences across broadcast, digital, streaming, social, and vertical video platforms. The role is part of WTOL 11’s Story Management Desk (SMD), which integrates traditional assignment and digital functions. The editor will manage coverage as stories develop, ensuring timely, accurate, and platform-optimized updates. They will collaborate with producers, MSJs, photojournalists, and digital teams to coordinate breaking news, advance ongoing stories, and support storytelling across various platforms. Planning future coverage and ensuring continuity between shifts are also key aspects of this position. The role demands strong editorial judgment, excellent communication skills, and the ability to make quick decisions in a fast-paced newsroom.

Requirements

• 1–3 years of experience in a local newsroom, digital production role, assignment desk role, or related journalism position
• Strong news judgment and the ability to make fast, sound editorial decisions
• Excellent writing and editing skills, with attention to accuracy and clarity under deadline pressure
• Familiarity with newsroom systems, content management systems, and digital publishing tools
• Comfort working across multiple platforms, including digital, social, streaming, and video
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities in a deadline-driven environment
• Experience with breaking news coverage and live event coordination preferred
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset
• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, or equivalent experience

Responsibilities

• Lead and communicate newsroom coverage during breaking news, ensuring accuracy, urgency, and balance
• Monitor developing stories and identify opportunities for follow-up coverage
• Coordinate newsroom logistics and provide editorial guidance to reporters, producers, and photojournalists
• Create, edit, and publish content for digital platforms, including the website, mobile app, and streaming products
• Curate and optimize content across broadcast, digital, streaming, and social platforms
• Support vertical video and social storytelling, including identifying stories for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, writing and editing compelling headlines and descriptions, assisting with framing and pacing for short-form video, and repurposing stories into vertical formats
• Launch and manage WTOL 11+ livestreams as needed, including routing sources, starting streams, writing descriptions, and sending alerts
• Monitor scanners, cameras, social platforms, audience submissions, and other news-gathering tools to identify emerging stories
• Use audience data and performance metrics to inform coverage decisions and improve reach and engagement
• Enhance storytelling with creative elements such as video, graphics, maps, and audience-submitted content
• Maintain daily planning tools and contribute to newsroom coverage planning
• Communicate effectively across shifts to ensure continuity of coverage
• Uphold TEGNA’s journalistic standards and WTOL 11’s commitment to ethical, community-focused journalism across all platforms

Benefits

• Two medical plan options through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
• Access to dental and eye care coverage
• Fertility, surrogacy, and adoption assistance
• Disability and life insurance
• 401(k) program with company match (100% match up to 4% of pay, 100% vested from day one)
• Nine free virtual doctor’s appointments with a physician through Teladoc for all employees and eligible family members
• 12 free annual therapy sessions with a licensed clinician through Spring Health for all employees and eligible family members
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Nine paid holidays per year

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level