DISCOURSE MAGAZINE SENIOR MEDIA MANAGER AND EDITOR

Overview

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is seeking a driven, creative self-starter to become the Senior Media Manager and Editor for Discourse, the center’s online magazine of politics, economics, and culture. This is a perfect job for someone who’s both a media maven and a careful editor—someone who’s worked both in a media promotions role and in an editorial capacity. The successful Senior Media Manager and Editor will work with a wide array of media outlets to promote each article published on Discourse, build strong relationships with reporters, columnists, and other members of the media, and secure frequent media hits in national outlets. This person will also share all editorial duties with the magazine’s other three editors: writing and editing all types of content published on Discourse, pitching story ideas to existing writers, recruiting new contributors, helping with photo and illustration research and selection, and loading new content on the magazine’s website. This person, who reports to the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, also will help the team think through a strategy for the next phase of the growing magazine’s development. The successful candidate will work closely with members of the Mercatus Center’s Marketing, Media Relations, Policy Research, and Publications teams.

Role Responsibilities

• Lead Discourse’s media outreach strategy and efforts; devise and execute media plans to take the magazine to the next level; develop strong working relationships with news aggregators and other media outlets to more effectively promote individual articles and the magazine as a whole.
• Connect members of the editorial team with journalists, podcasters, and other media members to help them grow their personal brands and, by doing so, make the magazine more widely known to target audiences.
• Provide substantive editing and feedback on Discourse articles, from the pitching stage to publication.
• Recruit new contributors and solicit original pieces for Discourse.
• Publish all pieces promptly with engaging headlines, subtitles, images and charts.
• Keep abreast of media and policy trends to pitch ideas to new and existing contributors.
• Develop working relationships with outside scholars, thinkers, and writers in areas of interest to the magazine.
• Assist in managing the magazine’s social media accounts.
• Develop and implement a strategic plan to grow the magazine’s readership as well as its public visibility.
• 5 to 10 years of relevant media relations experience, particularly specializing in politics and public policy; experienced in pitching stories and their authors to media outlets; well-versed in formulating and executing media promotions plans.
• 5 to 10 years of relevant editorial experience working for publications in the politics and public policy space.
• Top-notch writing and editing skills, including the ability to take difficult concepts and translate them into clear and compelling prose for a general audience.
• The ability to work with a diverse group of authors to help them shape their ideas and research into engaging articles.
• A solid understanding of the public policy issues of the day.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• An independent worker who’s also a “team player.”
• An entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for advancing the Mercatus mission of promoting classical liberalism, open markets and pluralism.