Posted On: May 26, 2015
Journalism Job
Media Organization: The Daily Meal
Company Description
SMG is a fast growth media company conceived of and for the digital age. Media by definition is about content. This is true online or off. But end users expect more of their content experience online and that is what SMG sets out to deliver in each of its industry leading sites. In many ways the company is looking to revolutionize how premium content is created, shared and monetized.
The Daily Meal was the first site launched by SMG in the early months of 2011. Since then it has proven to be one of the fastest growing content sites ever and THE fastest growing site within the food space. The Active Times was launched in late June of 2012 and is also experiencing unprecedented growth.
In each case our editors strive to provide our readers with the best content available in the respective fields of each site and to do so at a scale well beyond anyone else in the category. By delivering insightful journalism, great professional-grade video and in depth data we hope to delight and fulfill all our visitors’ expectations and informational needs.
The Daily Meal Mission Statement:
Unprecedented in scope and depth, The Daily Meal produces more culinary content than any other resource. Our passionate team canvasses the world to bring you the best food and drink experiences at all levels, around the table, at home or on the road. Harvesting the delicious and discarding the mundane, we are your friend on the inside, discovering and reporting with a sense of fun and curiosity. The Daily Meal delivers a fresh take on dining news and trends and helps you succeed in the kitchen while highlighting the unifying aspects of food and drink and celebrating the people who create them.
Job Description
The Daily Meal’s Recipe Editor will report directly to the Cook Editor and will work in collaboration with him/her to support the COOK channel goals. The recipe editor will be responsible for a high volume of writing, editing, and publishing on a daily basis and will also be assigned larger stories with a longer lead time. In addition to the duties outlined below The Daily Meal’s Recipe Editor should assume basic responsibility for the day-to-day functioning of (and long-term growth and development of) the Best Recipes pages and TDM recipe database, working strategically to address issues with functionality and user experience and to identify and fill gaps in the existing content.
Main Responsibilities
1. Writing (or editing) and subsequently publishing 25 pieces of content per week (as outlined below):
2 PROMO stories
Stories with wide appeal and that can be shared with our content partners such as MSN.com, AOL.com, Huffington Post, etc.
300-400 word story + slideshow, 8 slides minimum
1 SWAT(“sharing with a theme”) slideshow and story
300-400 word story about a particular culinary theme + accompanying slideshow that features the recipes contributed by members of the The Daily Meal’s Culinary Content Network and staff members around that theme
5 SOCIAL stories
A sharable story that someone can identify with and use to say something about themselves. Ideally, social stories should be ones that you think have the potential to ‘go viral’. Social stories must have 150+ words and generally have 5-6 pictures.
5 Glossary Terms
150-word encyclopedic definitions for food terms, as assigned
5 SEO recipes
5 recipes that match assigned headlines and whose headnotes are optimized for search
7 other recipes
7 recipes published at the discretion of cook and recipe editors. These recipes should generally be seasonal and they should help fill in gaps in the existing recipe database.
2. Write and publish 1 tent pole story per quarter (4 per year) in collaboration with the Cook Editor. A tent pole story requires a 300+ word introduction around a theme that we expect will drive a major amount of traffic to the COOK channel, helping the channel meet its monthly traffic goal. All tent pole stories require an approved methodology and a slideshow with 25 – 150 slides.
3. Programming Recipe of the Day and Recipe of the Day Newsletter.
4. Managing SWAT (Sharing with a Theme) program each week, including correspondence with The Daily Meal’s CCN (Culinary Content Network).
5. Generate ideas for PROMO and SOCIAL stories each week. The expectation is 5+ PROMO ideas and 5+ SOCIAL ideas per week.
6. Check UGC (user generated content) daily and publish all non-span, non-discriminatory, and otherwise inoffensive content.
7. Program Best Recipes Page with current/relevant content.
8. All other duties as assigned by the Cook Editor including, but not limited to, rebooting stories for partner sites, sourcing and publishing specific recipes, responding to reader’s emails, and responding to pitch emails.
9. Serve as weekend editor (on a rotating schedule) when assigned, approximately once every 3 months.
To Apply
Please submit your resume, cover letter, and three writing samples for consideration to jobs@spanfellergroup.com.