Newspaper Positions
Publisher: sometimes owns the paper, sometimes
not. This person is responsible for EVERYTHING
in the paper. He or she oversees all aspects both
business and news.
Managing Editor: responsible for news side of the
paper. This person is in charge of all the editors and
reporters and has final say on what content goes into
the paper.
City Editor: responsible for the hard news section
that covers mainly local news.
Regional Editor: responsible for news that spans a
region. Example: Northern Virginia
State: responsible for news that covers an entire
state. Ex. Virginia
National: knows about national events.
International: keeps up with and uses international
news.
Sports: responsible for ALL sports, either local or
international. There are usually other editors under
this one who help and make suggestions.
Editorial Editor: concerned with opinion pieces.
May write the paper’s editorial with input from the
publisher. Handles the letters to the editor section.
Stays out of the hard news areas.
Lifestyle’s/Arts Entertainment: weddings, movies,
books, festivals, cooking, etc.
Feature: handles the longer stories that may fit into
any of the above categories. Specializes in writing
that could span several newspaper pages.
Reporters: Each of the above editors has several
reporters that report to those sections. Examples:
Education: covers local schools, school boards.
Higher Ed: local colleges
Cops/courts: arrests, court cases, drug raids,
criminals, etc.
County or Government: covers local or state
government meetings. Goes to many, many
meetings.
Political: elections, Dems, Republicans etc. Pundits
are found here.
General: cover whatever the editors tell you to write
Sports: local, regional, and state reporting