At MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, our commitment to journalism that dismantles racial injustice and socioeconomic inequality means we listen and respond to our audiences. And that means we have to connect with our community.

So we’re looking for an Audience Engagement Manager who will be responsible for fostering growth and kinship on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn as well as strategizing for new platforms, like TikTok. 

Success in this role will require a deep understanding of our mission and values and strong news judgment. They’ll have to be experienced growing the social media presence for a mid-sized organization (preferably a news outlet). The ideal candidate understands the hustle behind deadlines. They are an experienced content creator; they should know how to produce and edit news-driven content. 

And most of all, our audience engagement manager will communicate with a voice that makes the community feel included.  A voice that feels like Memphis — kind but pointed, resilient and humorous, wise and knowing. You know, like the blues. 

About MLK50

Founded in 2017, MLK50 is an ambitious nonprofit digital newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis, Tennessee. Our mission is to report on the intersection of poverty, power and policy, and to bear witness to movement-making and lived experiences. At MLK50, we believe journalism is a tool for liberation and we are here to help people — especially Black people, people of color, poor people and everyone who has been pushed to the margins — get free. 

Also hiring

MLK50’s first development director

MLK50 and its journalists continue to garner national recognition for work that makes a meaningful, tangible difference in people’s lives, including the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting. We believe in collaboration: We’ve partnered with national outlets such as ProPublica and The Marshall Project. Our investigative reporting led a hospital system to erase nearly $12 million in medical debt for more than 5,300 patients and helped stop an oil pipeline that would have threatened a low-wealth Black community.  

We are fiscally sponsored by the MuckRock Foundation. Our core funders include the Surdna Foundation, Ford Foundation, Racial Equity in Journalism at Borealis Philanthropy, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, the Inasmuch Foundation and the Emerson Collective. We are also a partner newsroom with Report for America.

We believe in taking good care of MLK50 staff so they can keep up “good trouble” in the spirit of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis.  If you’re looking to work somewhere committed to dismantling the status quo, then we’re looking for you. 

Folks marching with the Poor People’s Campaign in May make their way through downtown Memphis on their way to the National Civil Rights Museum. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50

Essential duties

  • Grow MLK50’s social media presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and explore opportunities with new platforms such as TikTok, with an eye for experimentation
  • Interact enthusiastically with our audience on social media platforms, including promptly responding to comments, DMs and trends in a way that is consistent with MLK50’s values, editorial standards and brand
  • Manage social media calendar apps like Sendible and others as needed 
  • Manage the social media marketing budget, adhering to best practices for Facebook advertising and promoted posts
  • Maintain a social media editorial calendar 
  • Write quick hit pieces and live tweet events and meetings as needed 
  • Coordinate monthly live events on social media, with support from the digital editor 
  • Produce regular analytic reports using tools including (but not limited to) Google Analytics and Parse.ly, and make strategic recommendations based on those reports 
  • Produce clean and concise content that displays outstanding spelling and grammar skills and a solid grasp of AP Style
  • Demonstrate proficiency in photography, audio and basic graphic design (such as Canva) 

About you

  • Patient: With a good sense of humor 
  • Collaborative: A willingness to workshop ideas with team members  
  • Flexible: Be nimble and able to pivot when priorities shift 
  • Constant Learner: Familiarity with (or willingness to master the basics of) our publishing platform, WordPress and other tools
  • Memphis!: A working knowledge of (or eagerness to immerse yourself in) the character, people, relationships and ways of Memphis
  • Innovator: Thrives in sharing ideas and coming up with solutions  
  • Curious: An eagerness to learn about the topics and MLK50 coverage areas, including housing, workers’ rights and labor,  reproductive justice, health inequity and environmental justice.
  • Values-aligned: Has a solid understanding of and commitment to MLK50’s mission and values 
  • News consumer: An avid reader/viewer/listener of a variety of sources, including traditional news outlets, progressive media and social media with sound journalistic judgment and news instincts

Benefits

  • Salary starting at $65,000 
  • $3,000 hiring bonus 
  • At least three weeks paid vacation, 10 paid holidays per year and two “dark” weeks  for a total of at least 35 paid days off per year 
  • $1,000 annual professional development stipend
  • Unlimited sick time 
  • 100% employer-paid health insurance for the employee, 75% for dependents
  • Company-supplied computer
  • Life insurance, long and short-term disability 
  • $50 monthly tech stipend 
  • 4% employer 401K match 
  • Annual cost of living raise

Location and work travel

  • Must live in the Memphis metro area or be willing to relocate

Physical requirements/work environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

  • While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
  • The employee is frequently required to use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls.
  • The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.
  • The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
  • Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
  • The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

We encourage applications from people who are ready to take on an ambitious role, but don’t meet 100% of our requirements. We’re growing, so if you’re not right for this job, you might be right for the next one.

Want to apply for this position? Email a cover letter and a current resume to jobs@mlk50.com by 5 p.m. CT Oct. 24.