Truthout
Job Openings
We are currently accepting applications for the following position(s):
The William Rivers Pitt Fellowship For Emerging Writers
In honor of the late Truthout lead columnist William Rivers Pitt, who spent over two decades writing incisive commentary on the most pressing issues of our times, we are establishing a new fellowship to nurture the work of emerging opinion writers.
We are seeking a 20-hour-per-week column writing fellow whose work will focus on political commentary.
You:
You’re a strong emerging writer who is keen to broaden your knowledge and skills through writing regular op-eds while learning valuable publishing and social media strategies in a leading independent news organization. You are passionate about progressive politics and avidly follow breaking political news. You understand how news stories develop and evolve, and are eager to learn more about this process and write timely analysis pieces based on them.
You have broad familiarity with a wide range of topics, with a focus on electoral politics, developments in Congress, U.S. foreign policy, news transpiring in the courts, and more, and are looking for a fellowship in which you can write regularly on these topics. You’re interested in increasing the reach of independent, nonprofit news in an increasingly corporate media landscape, and you’re ready to use your skills to further Truthout’s mission.
Us:
Truthout is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues. Since our founding in 2001, we have anchored our work in principles of accuracy, transparency, and independence from the influence of corporate and partisan forces.
Truthout is committed to a vision of journalism in pursuit of justice. We understand that courageous journalism can and does drive social transformation. Through our work, we reveal systemic injustice; provide a platform for powerful ideas; elevate authentic storytelling; and develop journalistic practices that align with our dedication to accountability, equity and integrity. We believe in building the world we want to live in — within our organization, through our journalistic work, and through our work’s impact on society.
The Role:
In this role, you will write quick-turnaround op-eds focused on the political news of the day. You will generally be responsible for producing 2-3 opinion pieces per week. There may be some other duties as assigned.
You will engage in rigorous analysis of your own work and continually strive to improve its impact.
This is a fully remote, work-from-home fellowship position, and applicants are welcome from anywhere in the United States. BIPOC, women, LGBTQ candidates, and candidates with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Truthout offers a competitive salary, an industry-leading benefits package, generous paid time off, and a friendly and open work environment.
This paid fellowship requires 20 hours per week. Fellows must be able to work on Eastern Time. There is a brief trial period to assess whether the fellow is able to meet the basic requirements of the job, after which point the fellowship is guaranteed for a minimum of 6 months. This is a position with opportunity for growth and professional development, and comes with a stipend of $2,000 per month (in addition to an internet reimbursement and phone reimbursement stipend).
Requirements:
- Dependable, deadline-driven and punctual;
- Excellent writing skills;
- At least 2 years of journalistic experience;
- Enthusiastic and passionate about Truthout’s work;
- Well versed in a wide range of topics including electoral politics, developments in Congress, news transpiring in the courts, and more;
- Ability to thrive in collaborative spaces;
- Able to successfully deliver 2-3 pieces per week and respond with flexibility to unanticipated requests;
- omfortable working in a fast-paced environment with a very high level of detail;
- Able to adapt and multi-task;
- Enjoys working both independently and as part of a small team;
- Experience working with both Word and shared Google documents and spreadsheets;
- Familiar with the broader social media landscape of online news publications;
- Able to communicate in a friendly, thoughtful and effective manner via online chat, phone, video call and email;
- Have reliable access to the internet during specified work hours.
Preferred:
- A demonstrable body of journalistic work that our team can evaluate to decide if you’re a good fit for the Truthout team;
- Familiarity with social media and how to follow them to see what topics are high up in public conversations;
- Basic knowledge of WordPress;
- Familiarity with Slack.
How to Apply:
Email a cover letter, resume, two relevant references, two writing samples, your availability on Monday-Friday (between 9:00 am-5:30 pm EST) and any supporting material (such as links to articles you have written) to fellowships@truthout.org with the subject line “The William Rivers Pitt Fellowship For Emerging Writers application.”
We are actively reviewing applications for this position and will consider new applications on a rolling basis.
Breaking News Writer Fellowship
Truthout is seeking a 20-hour-per-week breaking news writing fellow.
You:
You’re a strong emerging writer who is keen to broaden your knowledge and skills by learning valuable publishing and social media strategies in a leading independent news organization. You are passionate about progressive politics and avidly follow breaking news and social media responses to it. You understand how news stories develop and evolve, and are eager to learn more about this process.
You’re at home on social media and understand its importance as a driver of social change. You’re comfortable writing about racism, Black liberation, immigration and racial oppression and have a broad familiarity with a wide range of topics including electoral politics, LGBTQ issues, U.S. foreign policy, activist movements in the U.S., judicial and legislative processes, climate justice, and more, and are . You’re interested in increasing the reach of independent, nonprofit news in an increasingly corporate media landscape, and you’re ready to use your skills to further Truthout’s mission.
Us:
Truthout is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues. Since our founding in 2001, we have anchored our work in principles of accuracy, transparency, and independence from the influence of corporate and partisan forces.
Truthout is committed to a vision of journalism in pursuit of justice. We understand that courageous journalism can and does drive social transformation. Through our work, we reveal systemic injustice; provide a platform for powerful ideas; elevate authentic storytelling; and develop journalistic practices that align with our dedication to accountability, equity and integrity. We believe in building the world we want to live in — within our organization, through our journalistic work, and through our work’s impact on society.
The Role:
As Truthout’s Breaking News Fellow, you will learn to utilize social listening tools to identify relevant trending stories and write short, quick pieces around them — including pieces on social media responses, responses from politicians, activists and people directly affected by the changes, and new developments and context. Working with our editorial and social media teams, you will be responsible for writing the text, selecting supporting material (tweet embeds, quotes etc.), choosing the story’s image, writing the headline and publishing the piece in WordPress. You will generally be responsible for producing two very short pieces (no longer than 500 words apiece) on the top news of the day within five hours. There may be some other duties as assigned.
You will engage in rigorous analysis of your own work and continually strive to improve its impact.
This is a fully remote, work-from-home fellowship position, and applicants are welcome from anywhere in the United States. BIPOC, women, LGBTQ candidates, and candidates with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Truthout offers a competitive salary, an industry-leading benefits package, generous paid time off, and a friendly and open work environment.
This paid fellowship requires 20 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Fellows must be able to work on Eastern Time. There is a brief trial period to assess whether the fellow is able to meet the basic requirements of the job, after which point the fellowship is guaranteed for a minimum of 6 months. This is a position with opportunity for growth and professional development, and comes with a stipend of $2,000 per month (in addition to an internet reimbursement and phone reimbursement stipend).
Requirements:
- Dependable, deadline-driven and punctual;
- Excellent writing skills;
- At least 2 years of journalistic experience;
- Enthusiastic and passionate about Truthout’s work;
- Already established practices of near-constant monitoring of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram;
- Experience creating content with significant reach;
- Well versed in a wide range of topics including electoral politics, U.S. foreign policy, activist movements in the U.S., judicial and legislative processes.
- Ability to thrive in collaborative spaces;
- Able to successfully deliver two short but solid pieces within five hours and respond with flexibility to unanticipated requests;
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with a very high level of detail;
- Able to adapt and multi-task;
- Enjoys working both independently and as part of a small team;
- Experience working with both Word and shared Google documents and spreadsheets;
- Familiar with the broader social media landscape of online news publications;
- Able to communicate in a friendly, thoughtful and effective manner via online chat, phone, video call and email;
- Has reliable access to internet during specified work hours.
Preferred:
- Experience with website and social media analytics, including Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Sprout Social and/or CrowdTangle;
- Experience with social listening tools, including BuzzSumo;
- Basic knowledge of WordPress;
- A demonstrable body of journalistic work that our team can evaluate to decide if you’re a good fit for the Truthout team.
How to Apply:
Email a cover letter, resume, two relevant references, two writing samples and any supporting material (such as links to articles you have written) to fellowships@truthout.org with the subject line “Breaking News Fellowship application.”
We are actively reviewing applications for this position and will consider new applications on a rolling basis.