Remapping Debate Creative Journalism Fellowship
Who are we?
Remapping Debate is a small, vibrant, not-for-profit online news journal with stable funding and a mission to counter a profoundly destructive assumption that undergirds most reporting: that existing U.S. domestic public policies somehow reflect nothing more than submission to inevitable facts of life that always have been and always will be.
Some of the questions that animate our work include: What kind of society do we want to have? Aren’t there choices to make that would yield a better life for more people? Shouldn’t we imagine desired substantive outcomes and then figure out what is achievable, rather than starting with the assumption that a wide range of outcomes is not affordable, not politically practical, and ought not be explored?
What is this fellowship?
The opportunity to work full-time on stories of substance that require the reporter to go well beyond simply “finding the story that is out there.” On each story, you will need, with the assistance and collaboration of your editors, to develop a working hypoothesis and then probe interview subjects regarding the crucial “why” and “why not” questions that others are not asking. This work gives a reporter the chance every day to imagine new alternatives to the narrow range of policy choices presented in who-will-win coverage.
Continually learning new subjects, you will inform your reporting with deep context and rigor, always including as part of your inquiries the kinds of questions to policy makers and advocates the answers to which they either haven’t thought about before or are not happy about having to give.
When and for how long?
The fellowship is a one-year position, commencing in January (unless you are available sooner).
Where?
Flexible. You can remain in your current location anywhere within the United States. If you’re in (or want to relocate to) New York City, you’ll work out of our midtown Manhattan office.
How much and what benefits?
40K to 60K, depending on experience. Four weeks paid vacation. 100 percent employer-paid health insurance premiums.
Cautions!
Remapping Debate practices a profoundly different kind of journalism from that of most other publications. Before you apply, make sure you are fully comfortable with what we do.
This fellowship does not call on you to write essays, generate blog entries, or crank out commentary pieces. It does require, among other things, finely-honed analytical skills, a deep appreciation of context, a strong thirst to imagine alternatives, and the genuine desire to serve the public good — all to be deployed in the service of get-your-hands-dirty reporting.
Remapping Debate reflects the vision of its editors, and the editors are deeply involved in the development and ultimate shape of every piece.
This is a very challenging position. Each story is highly labor intensive. Each story will demand imagination and creativity in preparation and execution. You will continually be working cross-beat. The editors have extremely high standards of excellence; it is not uncommon to turn out that Remapping Debate is not a good fit.
Special note to potential applicants who are practicing journalists: working with us requires you to abandon a variety of journalistic conceits. If that is not clear to you from reading the articles on our site — or if you’re not prepared to do so — you should not apply.
Encouragement!
If there is a good fit, the rewards are enormous. That’s true not only in terms of journalistic accomplishment, but also in terms of intellectual challenge and the opportunity to be deeply engaged in thinking about critical choices in public policy.
What will maximize my chances of being selected?
You are tenacious and fearless and have an outstanding academic record. You demonstrate that you are an excellent writer (for us that means clear, direct, and engaging — not flip, outrageous, or ironic). You show us that you are a flexible, analytical, and creative thinker who is broadly curious about the world. If you are currently employed as a journalist or writer, you explain how that experience is relevant to what you would be doing with us. Obvious but often overlooked: you are responsive to the questions posed on the application form and that your application reflects your having read Remapping Debate and getting what we are about.
How do you apply?
Please use the web form that can be navigated to at the right of this page, and please be sure to follow all of the instructions. It is our intention to make a decision relatively quickly, so it is to your advantage to get your application in sooner rather than later. Thank you.
Remapping Debate is an equal opportunity employer committed to following all federal, state, and local equal employment laws. We affirmatively encourage applications from journalists who are members of one or more protected class groups that have traditionally been under-represented in the news business.