✍️ Journalism Jobs, Internships, Fellowships, Events, Awards, Salaries and Freelance Opps ✍️ — January 8
Q&A w/New York Public Radio Editor-In-Chief; 50% Discount and Two-Week Trials Return; 1,000 Journalism Jobs and Internships; 320 Freelance Opps, $750,000 worth of Fellowships, Grants and Cash Awards
Hello folks and welcome to the first proper 2025 edition of Inside The Newsroom, journalism's job board.
To start the new year off with a true bang, we have an exclusive Q&A with the Editor-in-Chief of New York Public Radio, Audrey Cooper, who kindly answered some questions pertaining to leadership, content strategy and who she looks for in new hires.
Hearing how NYPR serves its audience, in this case New Yorkers, regardless of who they voted for was so refreshing, especially when it is so often media outlets who fuel the division in today’s societies. I also loved Audrey’s answer regarding how her newsroom ensures that new candidates continue to learn and grow after their honeymoon period. Implementing a two-way system of feedback between employee and manager is so valuable, yet so often overlooked, because every job should be a two-way agreement between the company and said employee.
A special thanks to Audrey and also to NYPR’s Ivan Rodriguez for setting everything up over a busy holiday period. And they currently have several openings, of which we have featured three below. And of course please do scroll down to read the full Q&A.
Before we get to that, I hope everybody had a well-deserved break over the holidays. I spent mine with family back in London and then caught a cheeky trip to Milan for a few days. It was great to take in some breathtaking scenery, surrounded by mountains and lakes, and I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance to visit. Now that I’m back in Madrid, I’m raring to go to get stuck into new projects and exciting things over the next few months.
Each year for ITN I aim to add a few new somethings to the subscription to not only make this subscription the best value for money around, but also to make sure there’s something for everyone. So it gives me great pleasure to say that in today’s newsletter, we start the new year off with all of the following:
Journalism Job Board: 300+ new journalism jobs and internships, as part of ~1,000 active roles in total
Freelance Job Board: ~100 new freelance opportunities and pitch calls, as part of 300+ in total
Journalism Calendar: 40+ new journalism fellowships, grants, mentorship schemes, webinars, conferences, training workshops and awards, as part of 190+ total entries
Media Salaries: Another 130 salaries added, to take our total to more than 12,000 records
If you would like to access all of the above, we’re currently offering 50% off all paid subscriptions for your first 12 months, meaning you can fast-track your job hunt for as little as $3.50/£3 a month or just $30/£24 for the entire year (works out as $2.50 a month).
If you’re not sure and would prefer to try-before-you-buy, we also offer free two-week trials of which you can cancel at any time with no 30-day notice nonsense. Just make sure you cancel before the two weeks are up.
Still not sure? Here’s what more than 50 people said about how Inside The Newsroom helped them find a job in journalism.
In terms of what to look forward to in 2025, we plan to expand our coverage to a handful of new countries, of which will be announced shortly, as well as to expand the categories of jobs we include. While I already have a plan in place for the next few months, I’m always looking to add new ways to make Inside The Newsroom the best value for money around, so please do email me at daniellevitt32@gmail.com if you have any ideas or suggestions.
And lastly, like I repeated all throughout December, I am so grateful for every single subscriber, from those of you who’ve supported this newsletter from the start, to all of our new followers each week. Without you, ITN simply wouldn’t be a thing. So thank you once again, and now it’s over to me to make you glad you joined for the ride. ❤️🙏👊
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Report For America
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Please mention that we sent you 🙏
Q&A With Audrey Cooper, Editor-in-Chief of New York Public Radio
Daniel: New York Public Radio has several major brands under its umbrella, including WNYC and Gothamist to name just a couple. How do you ensure that the hundreds of personnel you are responsible for are motivated and aligned every day?
Audrey: It would be hard to find a media organization anywhere that hasn’t had to adapt to rapid, industry-wide changes over the last few years. Securing revenue to maintain high-quality journalism is an ongoing effort, as it is for nearly every media company in America. It’s also not a secret that we had work to do to make sure our staff reflects the diversity of New York City. This is work that never ends, but our newsroom in particular has made significant progress while I have been editor in chief. We now have one of the most diverse newsrooms of any mainstream legacy newsroom, with nearly 50% of our journalists identifying as people of color.
To stay relevant to our audiences, we also had to do a lot of workflow and structural work in the newsroom over the last four years. When I got here, we had essentially two newsrooms operating within WNYC: the Gothamist staff, which consisted entirely of writers, and the WNYC staff, which was almost entirely focused on audio production. For obvious reasons this was inefficient, but it also created two separate news cultures within one newsroom. Building trust and forging a cohesive department was a challenge, particularly because it was happening remotely during the pandemic. We had to choose a new path together, and then get everyone trained up on the skills needed to tell engaging stories with audio, text and multimedia.
At the end of the day, we united around a very clear newsroom mission: To make New York work for New Yorkers. We do that in big ways, whether it’s spending months to uncover the systematic and institutionalized sexual abuse culture at Rikers Island, and in shorter-lead stories, such as covering the neighborhood hero hiding plastic ducks for children or explaining how to get your rental security deposits back from a landlord.
DL: There are an endless number of reasons why we all get into journalism, but the one that I’ve heard the most from past colleagues and now from ITN subscribers is wanting to create change in areas that are either illegal or simply immoral. Are there a couple of recent examples where NYPR’s reporting has directly led to businesses or governments changing a policy or practice, or simply an individual’s life improving because of your journalism?
AC: Our newsroom has a very explicit mission: We aim to make New York work for New Yorkers. That shows up in our large investigations, such as the months-long expose of the sexual abuse inside city jails, which prompted several investigations, caused guards to be reassigned, and fueled reform attempts. It also shows up with quicker-turn stories. Just this morning we aired and published a story about tenants getting their rental deposits returned after a WNYC story. I love the headline that accompanied the text story on Gothamist: 'It shouldn’t take a news article.' NYC tenants get security deposits back after spotlight on landlord. I’m very proud to say we have examples every week of this kind of accountability reporting.
DL: In a time where the entire news ecosystem continues to undergo major change and reform, how has NYPR and its brands adapted on the fly in order to continue to produce the quality journalism it is known for, not just for the present but also for years to come?
AC: We continually assess how we cover the news, how we’re doing it across each platform, and whether we are covering topics that resonate in the lives of our audiences. For example, this upcoming year you can expect to see our newsroom focus on a few critical themes: affordability; the perception of public safety; and the politics of how we use public spaces.
Affordability is probably self-explanatory, but involves the cost of groceries, housing and child-care, among other issues. Public safety, including the question of who is “safe” and who is not, is at the top of everyone’s mind. And in New York City public space is at a premium, whether it’s our beaches, parks, dining parklets or the subway platforms used by every New Yorker. Putting our focus on themes helps ensure that these critical perspectives make it into all our coverage, not just certain beats.
DL: And how does NYPR ensure that, no matter what direction the country turns politically, it continues to report factual information without telling its audiences what to think specifically?
AC: Public media is prohibited by law and by philosophy from endorsing candidates or promoting a certain political point of view. That’s baked into our DNA and history. We serve the public, regardless of who you voted for or and whether or not you have the funds to be a sustaining member.
Our newsroom is fully committed to reporting on topics that concern all New Yorkers: How is the subway (not) working? Is the air safe to breathe today? Do our schools have the resources they need to effectively teach our children? Whatever your political affiliation, these are issues that affect you and your family. Our newsroom does that through our reporting and our hugely popular live radio call-in shows, which truly engage callers from every political allegiance, in every neighborhood.
DL: You currently have a number openings for a range of positions of varying levels of seniority. Are there some key principles that you look for in your new hires that run through the entire organization?
AC: Collegiality, ambition and curiosity are the three most important qualities I’m screening for when I talk to candidates. As a team we wrote newsroom Norms & Behaviors, and we prioritize finding candidates who are committed to those principles. Building a healthy team culture where we can challenge and support each other is critical to our success.
Just as important are ambition and curiosity. Let’s face it, journalism in 2024 was hard work. It’s also a team sport. We find that the most successful candidates are hungry to work with their colleagues to get the story while also being intensely curious about all the wild and wonderful nooks and crannies of NYC.
DL: And lastly, I think an often overlooked aspect of applying for and starting a new job is what happens after the six-month 'honeymoon' period is over. How do NYPR employees continue their learning and growth one, two and five years into their time at the company?
AC: I love this question! We’ve put a lot of thought into this, and it’s one of the reasons we have a rigorous training program, led by a training editor. If we’ve been successful in hiring ambitious and curious people, we have to be able to support the ways they want to learn and grow. That means a clear and consistent system of feedback (which goes both ways, incidentally, between employee and manager) but it also means providing opportunities to learn a new skill or get individualized coaching. Success is different for everyone. I don’t expect people to come to WNYC and never leave. I’m super proud of my former colleagues who are now in newsrooms across the world, knowing that I played a role in helping them get to their next dream job. If WNYC is seen as a place to poach the best journalists, that’s a huge compliment to our managers and a statement about our ability to spot talent. If, on the other hand, you also want to stay and make WNYC the best newsroom in America until you retire, that’s great, too.
One thing I truly believe is that we are all works in progress. That goes for me as much as an intern. We’re all in this together, trying to improve a little each day for the benefit of our audiences.
💼 New Jobs and Internships
We list jobs from more than 400 organizations including ABC News, American City Business Journals, AOL, Argus Media, Associated Press, Axel Springer, Bauer Media, BBC News, Bell Media, Bloomberg News, CBC, CBS News, Citywire, CNBC, Conde Nast, Cox Media, DAZN, Dotdash Meredith, Dow Jones, ESPN, Financial Times, Future, Getty Images, Global, Gray Media, Haymarket, Hearst, HuffPost, ITV News, LADBible, Insider, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy, MediaNews Group, Morning Brew, MTV, National Geographic, NBC News, New York Post, Nexstar, PA Media, Paramount, Politico, Reach, Reuters, Rogers Sports & Media, Sky News, S&P Global, Scripps, Springer Nature, Tegna, TelevisaUnivision, The Boston Globe, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, The Canadian Press, The Fort Worth Star, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, The Independent, The New York Times, The Telegraph, The Times, The Washington Post, Tortoise Media, USA Today, VICE and Yahoo News.
🗓️ Journalism Calendar
If your organization has an upcoming opportunity for the Calendar, fill out this quick form or write to me at danielevitt32@gmail.com.
This week we have 190 active calendar entries of which 44 are new, worth more than $750,000 in fellowships and cash awards. They’re broken down as follows: 87 fellowships, grants and mentorship schemes (12 new); 54 conferences, webinars and trainings (12 new); 49 awards (20 new).
We have more than X fellowships, grants and scholarships with deadlines coming up in the next week including a range of positions as part of PBS’ Creative Voices Initiative; the Press Forward Local News Grant, which will award up to $20 million in total to fund local news organizations; the Pulitzer Center’s Richard C. Longworth Media Fellowship, which awards between $10,000-$20,000 to two fellows; and the College of Europe is offering scholarships to journalists from any country to study in Warsaw, Poland.
Some in-person and virtual events to start your year off include Report for America’s RFA Corps Member Information Webinar to find out everything about their two-year newsroom fellowships; PEN America’s webinar on How Influencers Are Changing Our Information Ecosystem; and a workshop on Simplified Video Workflows for Newsrooms courtesy of The Video Consortium.
And lastly, we have X deadlines for awards programs in the next week including The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and Explanatory Reporting, which awards $25,000 and $15,000 respectively; and a selection of awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, whose categories include Print/Online, Video, Audio and Books.
💰 Media Salaries Database
This week we added another 130+ new salaries to the database taking our total to almost 13,000 salary records. See what others in similar positions are being paid and negotiate yourself a higher wage by becoming a paid subscriber below…
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