Visuals Editor

Our Visuals Team is Growing!

The Banner is building a newsroom that reflects Maryland in all its complexity, urgency and possibility. We’re looking for a Visuals Editor to help shape powerful visual journalism across the state.

This is a strategic, hands‑on editing, assignment and management role for someone who knows how to move fast on breaking news, think big on enterprise, and collaborate closely with reporters, editors, photographers, illustrators, designers and audience teams to make stories more compelling, more accessible and more visually distinctive.

You’ll join a visuals team that includes four staff photojournalists and another Visuals Editor, working across breaking news, arts, investigations, sports, features and special projects. You’ll report to the Director of Visuals and help guide the daily visual workflow for photography, illustration and design. In partnership with the Director of Visuals, you’ll help assign work, support staff and freelance contributors, uphold visual standards, and provide coaching and feedback that strengthens the team’s work.

What You’ll Do

• Help manage the daily visual schedule and workflow for stories across Maryland, with a focus on Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
• Assign staff and freelance photographers, illustrators and visual contributors for breaking news, features, enterprise stories and special projects.
• Help coordinate workloads, deadlines and priorities for visual assignments in partnership with the Director of Visuals and other newsroom leaders.
• Edit photography on deadline with strong visual judgment, rigorous caption accuracy and attention to tone, context and fairness.
• Provide clear assignment direction, creative briefs and feedback to staff photographers, freelancers and illustrators.
• Help coach visual contributors on storytelling approach, captioning, ethical considerations, visual quality and digital presentation.
• Brainstorm visual approaches with reporters and editors early in the story process.
• Identify opportunities for stronger photography, illustration, design, video, archival imagery, visual explainers and other storytelling formats.
• Research wire, archival and licensed imagery, ensuring appropriate permissions, credits, captions and usage rights.
• Help shape story presentation, layout, homepage treatment, newsletters, social visuals and off‑platform promotion.
• Art direct illustrations and create photo illustrations when needed.
• Support the Director of Visuals in maintaining visual standards, workflow systems and consistent editorial practices across the newsroom.
• Help onboard and support freelance contributors, including communicating expectations, deadlines, assignment needs and editorial standards.
• Bring creativity, care, sound judgment and strong editorial standards to every assignment.
• Uphold The Banner’s commitment to ethical, accurate, inclusive and community‑centered journalism.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience editing visuals in a fast‑paced newsroom or editorial environment.
• Excellent news judgment and a strong understanding of visual ethics, accuracy, consent, representation and context.
• A strong eye for visual narrative, digital storytelling and platform‑specific presentation.
• Experience assigning or managing photographers, illustrators, freelancers or other visual contributors.
• Experience providing feedback, coaching or editorial guidance to visual journalists or creative collaborators.
• Experience commissioning photography, illustration and/or video.
• Strong caption writing, reporting, assignment brief and visual research skills.
• Experience with archival research, licensing, copyright permissions and proper image usage.
• Fluency in Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Photo Mechanic and related visual editing or design tools.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to help manage competing deadlines, assignments and newsroom priorities.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to stay calm, clear and constructive under deadline pressure.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to give and receive thoughtful editorial feedback.
• A clear commitment to community‑centered journalism and inclusive assignment practices.
• Willingness to…