We are The Markup (https://themarkup.org/)—a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization based in New York City. With little accountability or oversight, technology is affecting how we vote, how we raise our kids, who is able to get housing, jobs, health care, and have a comfortable life. People deserve to know more about how this is happening, who is being harmed, and what they can do about it. That’s where The Markup’s hard-hitting investigative journalism comes in.
Our approach to investigative journalism is guided by the scientific method. We develop hypotheses and assemble data—through crowdsourcing, FOIAs, and automated data collection—to test our theories. We also strive to work in genuine partnership with local journalists and local news organizations who have built trust with the communities they cover. We aim to equip people, communities, and organizations with information that helps them protect themselves when wrongdoing is exposed and that drives institutional and systemic change.
We also don’t take shortcuts, even if that means searching high and low for a newsletter platform that meets our privacy promise or taking the time to bulletproof an investigation. We pride ourselves on an organizational culture that is rigorous, collaborative, and courageous.
Our mission is woven into everything we do. We believe that at our best, our work drives tangible, positive impact in the world, and we work deliberately and strategically to ensure our stories have as much impact as possible. Read more about how we think about impact at The Markup.
The Markup is committed to becoming an antiracist organization. And as an organization led by women of color, we do our best to center justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all that we do—of which hiring is just one part. We encourage you to ask us about what concrete steps we are taking in service of these ideals. We strongly encourage applicants who are people of color, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and/or formerly incarcerated people. A college degree is not required to apply for jobs at The Markup.
Come do your best work with us. We’re excited to meet you.
About the job
The Markup is hiring two editors to oversee, guide, and elevate a steady rhythm of enterprise, accountability, and investigative journalism. You will:
- Oversee, edit, and coach reporters on stories from conception to final line edits on:
- Short and medium-sized enterprise projects
- In-depth, long-form investigative stories
- Follow-ups and other stories that can push an investigation further (because we know stories don’t end when we publish)
- Work to create journalism with impact. Expose wrongdoing; equip people, communities, organizations, and regulators with the critical information they need to drive reform; strive for the goal of institutional and systemic change.
- Manage a team of around 6 journalists, such as investigative reporters, data journalists, visual journalists, engineers, copy editors, and producers.
- Collaborate a lot. The Markup’s stories often carry multiple bylines and usually go through multiple types of edits. As an editor, you’ll work with a team with many different skill sets and give your feedback and guidance on everything from visual journalism to our data methodologies. You’ll also work with colleagues focused on social media and communications to make sure each piece of journalism we do reaches the audiences and communities it needs to reach.
- Run point on external collaborations with newsroom partners (whether it’s reporting on a piece together, or co-publishing to help stories reach the right audience). With support from the rest of the editing team, you’ll also establish and seek out new partnerships to make our work the best it can possibly be and extend its reach.
- Support your team in their long and short term career goals, including encouraging and even spotting opportunities for professional development—from conferences to classes.
What it means to edit and manage at The Markup
At The Markup, we’re currently experimenting with a different approach to editing and management. We know that in journalism, editors have two important but different hats: editor and manager.
Manager: Editors at The Markup check in with their direct reports on a weekly basis about their capacity, how things are going at The Markup, and areas for growth. They help spot signs of organization-wide challenges and work to address them.
Editor: Editors at The Markup are hands on for every part of the story-making process. They help hone and filter pitches to ensure reporters articulate a compelling, groundbreaking hypothesis as well as a viable plan for proving it out. They also check in regularly with journalists and other collaborators as they gather evidence to shape the story and help spot inroads for impact. Editors at The Markup can edit any journalist at The Markup, including those who are not their direct reports. Which editor will work on a piece is determined by multiple factors, such as the capacity of the editing team and/or if a given editor’s strengths are a great match for a project. This allows our journalists to work with the editor who can best guide and coach a specific project.
What we’re looking for:
We’ve done our best to list below the relevant qualifications applicants might bring to this job, but the list isn’t exhaustive—we highly encourage you to share with us other experiences and qualifications you have that may be valuable for this role.
We strongly encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds to apply. Research shows that underrepresented applicants often downplay their skills. Even if you believe that your experience doesn’t match the qualifications listed (and we certainly don’t expect candidates to be equally skilled in the areas we’ve listed), we still want to hear from you. Please apply!
We’re looking for someone with:
- A strong track record of editing and publishing journalism that holds institutions accountable on behalf of the public.
- Experience editing, mentoring, and/or coaching journalists on stories with challenging or tricky elements that you helped navigate, and the ability to edit and coach journalists through any part of the reporting, writing, and fact-checking process, based on their needs.
- Project management skills, whether that experience is from being an investigative reporter needing to keep track of records requests and source outreach or as the leader of a newsroom team needing to keep track of the team’s projects.
- A clear dedication to working collaboratively on how any project or investigation can be most effectively told online, including through visual journalism or the creation of tools for the public.
- A team-player mindset that includes always being generous with sharing credit with colleagues, and ensuring all contributors, big and small, are recognized.
- A deep-seated appreciation for how journalists use data and code.
- A rigorous approach to fact-checking, paired with a healthy skepticism of all things, to help us proactively bulletproof our work, including anything that involves data. (One thing this includes: Helping us hater-proof!)
- A genuine interest in always working to be a better editor and a better manager.
- A willingness to deliver and receive constructive feedback on an ongoing basis, and not only during annual reviews.
Pluses, but not requirements:
- Data journalism or data analysis experience—as a reporter, editor, or in another related role.
- Experience going back and forth with companies or institutions that are critical of, or unhappy with your work, or your reporters’ work.
- Experience editing or reporting on technology and how it affects people and communities.
The deadline to apply is Monday, March 13 at 9 a.m. Eastern. We’ll begin reviewing applications after the deadline. We are actively considering internal candidates for these roles.
https://boards.greenhouse.io/themarkup/jobs/6625162002
