Investigations Editor

Job Description

WABE is looking to hire an investigations editor to join its 21-person news team. The editor will lead enterprise projects with our beat reporters, morning and evening shows and digital team. The position will also have the opportunity to pursue reporting projects as well. 

The editor will work in a multimedia setting, overseeing projects for radio, digital and social media in concert with the managing editor, deputy managing editor and senior editor of digital. 

The ideal candidate will have investigative editing and/or investigative reporting experience. 

The position will not directly manage staff but there is potential for growth in that area in the future. The investigations editor will be apart of the senior editor and producer group. This position requires collaboration and is very involved with everybody in the newsroom.

Strong organizational skills, ability to meet deadlines and handling many long-term projects with multiple people will be essential.

We would like the investigations editor to have or be able to develop a high level of knowledge in education and/or housing beats. These will be the areas of focus for their reporting projects. It will also lead investigative reporting with our journalists in politics, health, environment, business, criminal justice, immigration and Southside beats.

The investigations editor will be apart of a weekend editor rotation and may be required to fill in for other editorial positions. 

Job Requirements

Accountabilities:

• Story development: 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.
• Reporting guidance: directs 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.
• Editing and structure: 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.
• Legal and standards review: 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.
• Collaboration and resourcing: 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 managing editor.
• Standards and mentorship: 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.
• Impact tracking: monitors and documents real-world impact of investigations (policy changes, legal action, public response) for grant reporting or awards submissions — especially relevant for nonprofit/public media newsrooms reliant on foundation funding.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications 

• We’re looking for a strong editor who believes in the importance of news media, has a strong work ethic, a high level of journalistic integrity and an understanding of audio storytelling; someone who is reliable, trustworthy, receptive to feedback and willing to grow and adapt.
• The investigations editor will 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

Powered by Journalismnext