The Cap Times is seeking an experienced news professional with innovative instincts to help grow our audience and lead the newsroom approach on email newsletters and social media platforms.
We are a digital-first media organization that covers public affairs and culture in Madison, Wisconsin. Our newsroom has made important strides in building a larger pool of newsletter subscribers and gaining new social media followers. We’re looking for an avid news consumer with a passion for building strong engagement through our social platforms to help make those efforts flourish. This is a leadership position. You will work with supportive, friendly colleagues eager to share and assist, because your successes will also be theirs.
We’re looking for a team member who has:
- Experience writing, editing and producing email newsletters.
- Demonstrated fluency and creativity using social media and other tools, including video, to reach a wide variety of audiences.
- Strong customer service skills, including using digital tools to track and manage interactions and assisting with in-person and virtual reader engagement events.
- A passion for championing the role journalism plays in informing the public, leading more people to subscribe to news products, participate in events and ultimately join the Cap Times membership program.
- A talent for connecting with younger social media users to diversify news readership and turn younger users into daily news consumers.
- A demonstrated ability to analyze metrics and apply data to develop outreach and engagement strategies.
- An understanding of SEO and the impact that has on engagement.
- A forward thinker with the ability to juggle strategic thinking and hands-on tactical work.
- An eagerness and ability to try new tools, including a responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence, and share knowledge and skills with colleagues.
- A bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field is preferred.
Specific responsibilities include:
Newsletters
- Working with the newsroom and the audience director, producing a daily morning newsletter. This includes editing content provided by other newsroom journalists, as well as creating your own.
- Working with the audience director to create strategies for increasing our pool of newsletter subscribers.
- Producing occasional newsletters for paid Cap Times members, Cap Times Idea Fest subscribers and filling in as needed on the production of other newsletters including Food & Culture and Opinion Roundup.
Social media
- Setting strategy for social media growth and making posts across multiple platforms.
- Developing strategies to convert social media followers into more regular consumers of Cap Times content.
- Coming up with ideas to put newsroom writers in front of the camera for shortform social media videos that build the newsroom brand.
- Making recommendations about and executing paid social media campaigns to grow our audience.
- Interacting with users and responding to social media messages, inquiries, and comments on multiple pages, forwarding important messages to internal teams.
- Leading community engagement across social media channels, such as liking, commenting and following new users on behalf of the Cap Times.
Events and membership
- Assisting in the production and marketing of newsroom events including Cap Times Idea Fest and Cooking with the Cap Times.
- Assisting the audience director occasionally with membership tasks, including communication and distribution of member benefits.
Technologies used include:
- Social media: Facebook (including Ads Manager), Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, LinkedIn
Benefits offered include medical, dental and vision insurance; company-paid life insurance; company matched 401(k); employee assistance program; paid time off, sick and holiday time.
Pre-employment background and drug screenings apply.
The Cap Times is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We are committed to maintaining a workforce that accurately reflects our audience and expands our voice. Women, people of color and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
How to apply:
Please submit a resume, cover letter and up to three clips to Editor Mark Treinen at mtreinen@captimes.com.
About the Cap Times:
The Cap Times (formally, The Capital Times) has a rich, deep history in Madison. Today, we are foremost an independent newsroom that delivers local journalism focused on Madison. We produce a weekly print newspaper, but our primary delivery is digital and social media. We are also a source of progressive opinion, and we host excellent events, highlighted by the annual Cap Times Idea Fest each fall. The Cap Times is additionally a major source of philanthropy in the community thanks to the foundation named for our founder, William T. Evjue.
Now is an exciting time to join the Cap Times! Our digital journalism, email newsletters, member benefits and events are becoming increasingly popular in the community. We are continually looking for ways to evolve amid journalism’s transformation, and we want innovative, creative minds to be part of that process here. Our newsroom is filled with passionate journalists who want to help Madison become a better place to live, work and raise families. We offer a fun, team-driven environment to produce local journalism that has an impact.
About Madison:
Madison is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the United States and home to some 300,000 people, the Wisconsin state Capitol, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a growing biotech industry, as well as a vibrant restaurant and entertainment scene. Located between lakes Mendota and Monona on an isthmus, the city also boasts many opportunities for outdoor recreation on the water, on its many miles of bike paths, and in abundant city and Dane County parks.
