Temporary News Editor (6 months)

Job Description:
POLITICO is   seeking   an experienced, versatile editor to join our newsroom on a   six-month contract   supporting our Breaking and White House teams.  

This editor will help drive coverage of the biggest political stories of the day, from the White House to Congress to the campaign trail, during one of the busiest stretches of the 2026 midterm cycle. The role is designed for an editor with exceptional news judgment, sharp editing   skills   and the ability to move seamlessly between fast-paced breaking news and deeply reported enterprise.  

The editor will spend weekends helping lead POLITICO's Breaking desk and will support weekday editing across both the Breaking and White House teams. Responsibilities include assigning and editing stories   and newsletters , working closely with reporters to sharpen coverage, coordinating with homepage and audience teams, and helping ensure POLITICO is fast,   accurate   and competitive on the biggest stories.  

This is a six-month contract position based in Virginia, New York or California.

Schedule:
Monday-Wednesday: 12:30pm-8:30pm
Saturday: 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am-6:00pm

Who You Are :  

You thrive in a fast-moving news environment and enjoy making quick, smart editorial decisions  

You're   a strong line editor who can improve copy while preserving reporters' voices  

You have excellent news judgment and know how to prioritize competing stories  

You're   collaborative, calm under   pressure   and comfortable working across multiple teams  

You're   adaptable and can quickly become fluent in new beats and workflows  

You're   comfortable working   independently   while coordinating with editors across the newsroom  

What You'll Do :  

Edit and publish breaking news, enterprise   stories   and newsletters  

Assign stories and help shape coverage throughout your shifts  

Work closely with reporters to strengthen reporting,   framing   and structure  

Coordinate with editors across the newsroom to ensure comprehensive coverage of major news events  

Help   maintain   POLITICO's standards for speed, accuracy,   fairness   and clarity  

Collaborate with homepage,   audience   and production teams to maximize the impact of our journalism  

Help lead weekend breaking news coverage and support weekday editing across the Breaking and White House teams  

What You'll Need :  

5+ years of professional journalism experience, including significant editing experience  

Excellent editing, headline   writing   and story framing skills  

Strong news judgment and experience covering fast-moving news  

Experience assigning stories and working directly with reporters  

Ability to juggle multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines  

Experience with digital publishing platforms and content management systems  

Familiarity with national politics or Washington coverage is strongly preferred  

Compensation:

$120,000-$130,000 Annual Base (prorated over six-month term)
The final salary offered will be based on factors including relevant experience, skills, and qualifications.

 

We value our people . Click  here  for more on what we offer and what it’s like to work for POLITICO. 

Let’s keep in touch . You can view our list of open positions  here . We hope to see your application soon! 

About Us . 
POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow's headlines, not reports on yesterday's news. As politics has increasingly become the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital. 

Cabinet secretaries and Ministers start their mornings with our analysis. CEOs shape strategy around our reporting. Advocacy leaders rely on our insights to move policy. We deliver the straightforward facts and clear-eyed analysis they need to navigate the most complex political landscape of our lifetimes. 

Our 1,100+ publishing professionals across the world's key democratic capitals—Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento, and New York—form the world's premier politics and policy newsroom. We tell the story of how power really works by explaining who wields it and how they plan to exercise it, connecting dots others miss and delivering scoops from sources others don't even know exist. 

Innovation has always been a core tenet of our story. At launch, we bet that depth would trump scale, that talent would trump traffic, and that politics would become central to modern life. In 2011, we made another bet and launched POLITICO Pro to help decision-makers understand the business of government, transforming both how they shape government action and the business of journalism itself. 

These bets have made POLITICO the most successful digital news startup of its generation and the indispensable resource for leaders who shape the future. Today, we are a rarity in media: a growing, profitable, and sustainable news organization. 

POLITICO is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, a family-owned transatlantic media company headquartered in Berlin and New York. Axel Springer is dedicated to shaping the future of journalism in the free world, believing that a free and informed society is essential to democracy. The company’s guiding principles - first articulated as  The Essentials  by founder Axel Springer in the aftermath of World War II - remain a cornerstone of the company’s foundation today.  Learn more about Axel Springer . 

Posting date:
2026-07-31 Title:
Temporary News Editor (6 months)