How to hire a city editor

How to hire a city editor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step city editor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a city editor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new city editor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The city editor hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A city editor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, city editors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of city editors.

   Type of City Editor	Description	Hourly rate
   City Editor	Editors plan, review, and revise content for publication.	$13-38
   Editing Internship	An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial department of an organization with publishing various media and digital content. Editorial interns shadow tenured editorial staff on researching stories, validating information, writing captivating articles, interviewing target audiences, and screening submitted manuscripts... Show more	$12-21
   Editorial Internship	An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial team in publishing digital and media content, writing articles, and managing readers' reviews. Editorial interns must have excellent knowledge of the industry they work for, suggesting the latest trends and featured topics, taking notes of the tenured employees' advice and observations, and actively joining brainstorming sessions... Show more	$12-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Editorial Board
   • Staff Reporters
   • News Stories
   • Web Content
   • Editorials
   • Feature Stories
   • Edit Copy
   • Facebook
   • News Articles
   • Twitter
   • Proofread
   • Metro
   • Local News Coverage
   • Local Government

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Share editorial writing with the managing editor and fill in for her as needed at internal and outside meetings.
   • Manage copy editing and proofreading responsibilities of weekly business newspaper and special supplements.
   • Enter news and photographs into a content management system, the newspaper web site and Facebook page.
   • Collaborate with copyrights team base in the UK to ensure publishing integrity standards weremaintain.
   • Coordinate editorial operations with the photo department.
   • Design and produce interactive DVD motion menus and authoring for various promotional marketing campaigns.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your city editor job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A city editor can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, city editors' average salary in alaska is 56% less than in connecticut.
   • Seniority. Entry-level city editors 64% less than senior-level city editors.
   • Certifications. A city editor with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a city editor's salary.

   Average city editor salary

   $48,698yearly

   $23.41 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level city editor salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

4. Writing a city editor job description

   A job description for a city editor role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a city editor job description:

   City editor job description example

   The Quad-City Times and Moline Dispatch-Argus needs an experienced city editor to manage the day-to-day operations of our digital and print newsroom. Duties include coaching reporters and photographers to bring out their best work, and assigning, scheduling and editing breaking news, daily and enterprise stories.
   
   This position is at the center of the newsroom and has the potential to set the news agenda in a competitive media market of nearly 385,000 people. The position reports to the executive editor.
   
   We're looking for a leader with strong news judgment and a sense of urgency, along with a knack for telling stories in exciting ways on our digital platforms and in print. You can spot holes in stories and edit copy to make it sing, and can juggle a lot - enterprise stories, dailies and incrementally reported breaking news, as well as special projects like managing news coverage for the first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses, and the Quad-City Times Bix 7 road race, our signature annual event.
   
   Candidates ideally have at least three years of editing and management experience at a daily newspaper, a strong sense of journalism ethics, and the ability to work with reporters from early career to nearing retirement. The newsroom values diversity, inclusion and equity, and has the flexibility to shape the job to fit the unique strengths of a great candidate.
   
   The Quad-Cities is a cluster of cities on the banks of the Mississippi River that offer an affordable lifestyle with bigger-city amenities. The papers are part of Lee Enterprises, a dynamic media company committed to local news - and acquiring and growing outstanding journalists.
   Why Join Us?
   
   Lee Enterprises offers competitive wages in a dynamic, interesting work environment with career growth opportunities. We offer an extensive benefit program that can be personalized to your needs. Our benefit program includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, company provided life insurance and supplemental life insurance. In addition, we offer a 401K retirement plan with company match. We also offer generous paid time off to allow the flexibility to balance personal life and work. This includes paid parental leave for new parents.
   
   Lee Enterprises is a leading provider of high-quality local news, with 77 daily newspapers in 26 states that have print, digital and e-replica versions. Lee's newspapers have a combined circulation of more than 1.2 million daily. Our digital sites attract more than 44 million unique visits monthly. We also have a rapidly growing roster of digital products for consumers, and are committed to aggressive digital growth.
   
   Lee Enterprises is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We respect and celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. For more information about Lee, check us out at www.lee.net.
   
   We are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you are excited about this role but do not meet 100% of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply.
   
   Other details
   
   * Job Family News
   * Pay Type Salary
   
   Apply Now
   
   * Davenport, IA, USA

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5. Post your job

   To find city editors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any city editors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level city editors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   To find city editor candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit city editors, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new city editor

   Once you've decided on a perfect city editor candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new city editor. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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