*Update: We’ve extended the deadline indefinitely to make sure we reach candidates from a variety of backgrounds and expertise areas. Please apply ASAP, as we intend to have our program manager in place in time for orientation in February.*
Dallas Free Press is seeking a journalist or writer/researcher with a passion for local government, policy and power in Dallas to support our team as our Civic Producer. Your work will shape our local arm of the award-winning Documenters program, which trains and pays residents to produce information in the public interest.
In this part-time role, you will work closely with Dallas Documenters and program staff to fact-check and approve community reporting on local government meetings; produce a curated, high-quality weekly newsletter; and implement creative ways to share Documenters’ findings with Dallas residents.
You will report to Dallas Free Press editors, who will provide guidance and a sounding board for your work. You also will work side-by-side with the Documenters Network, comprising seven newsrooms (and growing!) and led by Chicago’s City Bureau newsroom.
What you’ll do
- Review, fact-check and approve Documenters content regularly and on deadline
- Provide written and verbal feedback to Documenters
- Produce a weekly newsletter based on approved Documenters content
- Consult with/support Dallas Free Press and Dallas Media Collaborative reporters on editorial coverage about local government and civic power
- Support Dallas Free Press events, including Documenters workshops
Who you are
- You’re able to distill complicated topics into conversational and easy-to-understand language.
- You believe that getting more people engaged with local policy and government is an important way to create a more equitable society.
- You’re a thorough and detail-oriented civic nerd.
- You live in, grew up in or identify with the culture and experiences of our home neighborhoods, South Dallas and West Dallas, whose residents are predominantly Black and Latino, and live with the impacts of historical redlining and disinvestment.
Compensation and benefits
- $30,000-$35,000 part-time salary (20-25 hours/week)
- Flexible work schedule; some night/weekend hours may be needed
- No deadlines or work requirements during the 3+ weeks annually when Dallas Free Press’ office closes (spring break, one week in July and the span between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day)
- Community-based office space and flexibility to work remotely
Application timeline
- We’ve extended the deadline indefinitely to make sure we reach candidates from a variety of backgrounds and expertise areas. Please apply ASAP, as we intend to have our program manager in place in time for orientation in February.
- Our initial application is brief answers to three questions, plus your résumé and work samples. All applicants will receive responses, whether you move forward or not.
- The next stage is a 20-minute virtual interview.
- Within five days, interviewees will be notified whether or not they have proceeded to the next stage—a case exercise—and will have three (3) days to complete the case exercise, for which all applicants will be paid regardless of final selection for this position. (Note: It shouldn’t take you three days! The exercise is fairly brief but will give us a better idea of how you would approach the role.)
- Within a week, applicants will be notified if they have proceeded the final interview stage.
- Final candidate begins orientation in February 2023.
About Dallas Free Press
Dallas Free Press launched in early 2020 to amplify voices in disinvested neighborhoods and explore solutions to our city’s systemic inequities. Executive director Keri Mitchell spent 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas’ Advocate magazines, and founded Dallas Free Press with the belief that all neighborhoods deserve reporting and storytelling that values their community and holds leaders accountable.
Dallas Free Press welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds. We offer equal opportunity in employment for all qualified persons and prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, disability unrelated to job requirements, genetic information, military service or other protected status.
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