We have just announced a new initiative to help local and regional news organizations produce the kind of accountability reporting that is so vital for our democracy.
With support from a new three-year grant, the ProPublica Local Reporting Network will pay for one full-time reporter dedicated to investigative work throughout 2018 at each of up to six partner news organizations in cities with population below 1 million. The reporter will still work in and report to their home newsroom, but they will receive extensive guidance and support from ProPublica. Their work will be published or broadcast by their home newsroom and simultaneously by ProPublica as well.
We are hiring a senior editor to lead our work on the project. She or he will have the responsibility to guide, edit and elevate the work. As with all our work at ProPublica, the job is ultimately to create compelling investigations that spur change.
What you would be doing:
- Overseeing up to half a dozen reporters, each at different newsrooms.
- Working in collaboration with the partner newsrooms and within ProPublica to execute stories that can take a variety of forms, from newspaper-style takeouts to magazine, radio and TV pieces.
- Making it new. This is a new role at ProPublica, for which there is no set playbook. A key part of the work will be having the vision and ability to shape the new endeavor.
We’re looking for someone who:
- Has a track record of landing revelatory stories about abuses of power
- Aches to tell stories that are both important and powerfully told
- Has experience with — and an appetite for — collaborating with other newsrooms
- Is truly excited about all the possible ways we can do journalism nowadays: from deep data-digging to working with readers to marrying narrative and investigative forms
We know there are great candidates who won’t fit everything we’ve described above, or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.
We are dedicated to improving our newsroom, in part by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. Everyone is encouraged to apply, including women, LGBTQ people, people of color and people with disabilities.
What you should send us:
- The most important part by far is your past work. Send us URLs to your best stuff. Let us know how your editing shaped and improved the stories. Don’t be shy — tell us what worked (numbers and evidence of impact welcome!) and how you’d do it differently next time. Editing is about far more than moving around words. Show us how you think.
- A description of any experience you’ve had with collaborations between newsrooms.
- Your thoughts on local or regionally based projects you think ProPublica should do and how you would approach guiding it. What kind of stories grab your attention? How should they be told? Be expansive: Are these more effective as narratives, hard news stories, immersive interactives, etc.?
- Your resume
The job is full time, includes benefits, and will be based at our headquarters in New York.
If all of this sounds exciting to you, apply using this form.
The deadline for applications is Oct. 20.