As the only news organization exclusively dedicated to covering gun violence, The Trace has a responsibility to ensure that our journalism serves the most affected communities. We’re looking for a talented community editor who can help us do that better, especially as fatal shootings have persisted during the COVID-19 crisis, despite decreases in other types of crime.
The Trace is a nonprofit media outlet based in Brooklyn and also has journalists in Chicago, Baltimore, D.C., and Southern California. We are all working from home due to the coronavirus and are open to this being a remote position.
In this role, you will:
- Use your knowledge of your city to identify the information needs of neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence
- Report and edit articles, information guides, and other story types, determining how to best serve affected communities
- Engage with communities that may be estranged from traditional media, working on- and offline and following all safety measures required by the current pandemic
- Secure and manage partnerships with other news organizations and community groups in your city
- Support your Trace colleagues in developing source relationships in affected communities
- Help us find ways to share new and archival Trace reporting with people from affected communities
We’re especially interested in candidates who are:
- Motivated by and passionate about engagement journalism and community-centered reporting
- Eager to listen to and learn from the communities at the heart of this project
- Capable of making bold ideas happen
- Familiar with the disparities of gun violence in your city
- Plugged into the grassroots media outlets, independent journalists, and community organizations who are on the ground building relationships with the people we hope to serve and engage
- Dedicated to journalistic integrity and sensitive to the responsibilities of reporting on and for under-resourced communities
- Able to work both collaboratively and independently as circumstances require
- Excited by the potential of journalism to empower communities to take on the challenges they face
- Fit some but not all of these criteria? We’d still love to hear from you.
What else you should know:
The Trace offers competitive salaries and benefits packages. We strive to provide a fun, flexible, and supportive work environment. This grant-funded position will have an initial 18-month term. Our goal is to make it a permanent and essential part of our editorial team.
This position can be located anywhere it will have an impact — we want to hear from you about why this work would have value in the city where you live.
The Trace can secure a workspace for you in your city, but you will be asked to work from home until it’s safe to commute and occupy an office.
Please send the following to [email protected]:
- Your resume
- A cover letter sharing your thoughts on why engaging affected communities is essential to reporting on gun violence, and why your city needs this work
- 1 to 5 links or copies of your most successful or innovative community engagement work, with brief explanations
Deadline: June 15, 2020
The Trace is committed to diversity and strongly encourages applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBQT people.
About The Trace
The Trace is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization founded in June 2015. Our mission is to use public interest journalism to increase understanding of gun violence, examine potential interventions, and create accountability for those who stand in the way of a safer country for all.
