We’re hiring an editor! Apply by August 19.

The Peterborough Association for Local News (PALN) is seeking a curious, self-starting and community-minded journalist to lead the production of news for Peterborough Currents, a website and email newsletter that serves Peterborough residents with in-depth and community-centred local news.

Over the last five years, Peterborough Currents has grown into a vital and beloved source of information and connection for thousands of residents. As our newsroom’s founding members depart to pursue new opportunities, we’re looking for someone to take up the mantle and continue our work — but also to make it their own.

This is an opportunity to shape the future of non-profit news in Peterborough. You’ll bring a vision for how non-profit news can serve the residents of a mid-sized city — and the drive to execute that vision. Understanding that other local outlets already provide satisfactory daily news coverage in Peterborough, you’ll develop a unique voice that sets Peterborough Currents apart and offers readers a window into their community that they can’t find elsewhere.

Put briefly: You’ll be responsible for ensuring PALN fulfills its mission to provide journalism that fosters civic literacy, community engagement, and a sense of belonging in Peterborough, Ontario.

About the role

As our Editor-Journalist, you’ll be in charge of ensuring Peterborough Currents delivers high-quality journalism that: 

• Meets the information needs of our audience
• Offers alternative perspectives and surfaces new information 
• Introduces readers to fellow community members, especially those who are underrepresented in other local media
• Nourishes readers with community-grounded storytelling
• Helps readers to understand the news
• Introduces readers to solutions as often as problems

Some weeks, “being in charge” will mean you are reporting, writing, editing, and publishing our content all on your own. Other weeks, it will mean you are coordinating and managing freelancers, including some who are not formally trained in journalism and may require mentorship and extra support. We plan to hire an assistant to help you, and “being in charge” will also mean coordinating their work. 

You’ll bring strong organizational skills that you’ll put to use when you plan and execute Currents’ editorial calendar.

You will report to PALN’s board of directors. The board will set broad expectations, act as a sounding board and offer support and encouragement (we know this job will be challenging!). But we hope to find a leader who can make decisions and deliver high-quality journalism with minimal supervision.

Key deliverables

• A regular (most likely weekly) email newsletter
• Less frequent — but still fairly regular — news articles published on the Currents website (most likely about two per month.)

At Peterborough Currents, we prioritize depth, nuance, creativity and originality over reach and quantity. That means you won’t be writing a story every day. With the exception of our weekly email newsletter, our publishing schedule is generally flexible — we understand some stories take longer than others! You’ll have a say in setting your priorities in consultation with the PALN board.

The ideal candidate

Our ideal candidate will:

• Have journalism experience of some form
• Have strong writing skills, producing clear and accessible copy
• Possess strong news judgment and be able to independently generate story ideas
• Have an instinct for nuance and complicated narratives
• Be a self-starter
• Love getting to know the community
• Think critically about the news cycle and traditional practices of news production
• Have a deep familiarity with Peterborough and its news ecosystem OR local journalism experience in a different municipality
• Bring a vision for how non-profit journalism can foster a stronger community, and the motivation to bring that vision to life
• Bonus points for photography and/or other audio-visual skills

Please don’t consider yourself unqualified just because you don’t tick every single box. We’d love for you to get in touch anyway, and we’d be happy for you to surprise us with a skill or vision that we didn’t anticipate.

The details

• The annual salary will start at $60,000.
  
• While we are open to hearing from candidates who might require a more flexible job with fewer hours and a pro-rated salary, we envision this as a full-time (35 hours/week) position.
  
• This is a one-year contract position, with a strong possibility of extension, funding permitting.
  
• We offer three weeks of paid vacation, plus an additional week over the end-of-year holiday.
  
• The journalist will have the option of working from home, from our private office in Sadleir House, or from a combination of the two. An on-the-ground presence in Peterborough, Ontario, will be necessary so you can fulfill your reporting duties out in the community.
  
• We regret that we are unable to offer medical benefits at this time. But it is a goal of ours we are working toward.
  
• All necessary equipment (audio recorder, camera, computer) will be provided, unless the journalist prefers to use their own equipment.
  
• We trust you to show up, take your job seriously, and prioritize your work as well as your personal well-being. To that end, we offer unlimited paid time off (i.e., sick days), so long as you are meeting the expectations of the position.

About the Peterborough Association for Local News

The Peterborough Association for Local News (PALN) is a newly formed non-profit organization that is assuming ownership of Peterborough Currents. 

PALN’s mission is to produce and publish journalism that fosters civic literacy, community engagement, and a sense of belonging in Peterborough, Ontario.

Not familiar with Peterborough Currents? Browse these stories we were proud to publish in 2024 and these stories we were proud to publish in 2023 to get to know what we’re all about.

How to apply

Just reach out! Please send an email with the subject line “Editor-Journalist Application” to info@peterboroughcurrents.ca. Your message should:

• Highlight your relevant experiences and education
• Explain why you would be a strong fit for this position
• Link to some of your published work
• Link to a local news story that you didn’t write (it doesn’t need to be from Peterborough) that you think is inspiring and tell us why
• Tell us what role you think Peterborough Currents ought to play in our community, and what kinds of stories you would prioritize in order to fulfill that mandate

If you want to include a resumé, go for it. We will review it. But it’s not required. We know how dispiriting job applications can be, so we’re trying to make the first steps easy. A casual email that introduces yourself and tells us about your experience, skills and motivations is enough to get the process started. We’ll read your application generously and ask questions if we need to.

This job posting will remain active until we have hired someone. We will begin reviewing applications on August 19, 2025, so apply by then to be considered in our first round of deliberations.