✍️ New Jobs and the Twitter Files ✍️ — February 20
What are the Twitter Files, why the lack of media coverage, and what next? Plus hundreds of new job openings from around the world
Hello folks and welcome to Inside The Newsroom, home of the world's largest curated journalism jobs board.
We have an action-packed edition today, including a look at the Twitter Files — what they are, why they've received a lack of media coverage, and what happens next.
Before we get to that, a few housekeeping items…
Each week we include a few handfuls of jobs for free in our twice-weekly newsletter. If you want to access more than 2,000 current and active openings including at the likes of The Guardian, New York Times, Nexstar, Sky and hundreds more, you can do so below. And a quick reminder that all options come with a free seven-day trial!👍
Fill out this form if your organization is hiring and you what us to help you promote your openings. It takes 60 seconds and we’ve helped countless other newsrooms fill their roles with our thousands of amazing subscribers.
If you’re one of those amazing subscribers, join our Candidate Board to cut the hours and applications and have employers come to you directly.
And also be sure to check out Friday’s newsletter with some of the top events, trainings and fellowship deadlines coming up, including the EJC’s Freelancer Support Scheme, GIJN’s Investigating the War In Ukraine, and ONA’s The Art of the Newsletter.
And lastly, if you liked today's newsletter, show me by hitting the like button at the top. That way I can better see what content resonates.❤️
Okay, new and featured jobs at Reach Plc, Boardroom and Politico Europe. Speak again on Friday!🤘
Job Corner
✍️ Want to have a job featured? Fill out this form and we’ll help you out ✍️
🚨 Featured Postings 🚨
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Reach
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $50,000-$55,000
Requirements: Understanding of usage rights when obtaining images from social media and the internet. Sound knowledge of Photoshop. Experience in the picture industry and keen interest in both photography and current affairs.
Deadline: February 24
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $85,000-$90,000
Requirements: Great written and verbal communication. Strong understanding of the unique nature of digital news. Strong understanding of the power of social media. Detailed knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok.
Deadline: February 24
Location: New York, NY
Salary: Up to $55,000
Requirements: Encyclopedic sport knowledge. Digital publishing and social media experience. Thorough knowledge of U.S. Sports, and keen interest in football, boxing, UFC, F1 and golf.
Deadline: February 24
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $50,000-$55,000
Requirements: Experienced journalist with in-depth knowledge of media law, who is able to create videos with flair, passion and skill. Confident writer who is able to write clear and concise captions to accompany videos with strong knowledge of IPSO.
Deadline: February 24
Location: New York, NY
Salary: Up to $55,000
Requirements: Strong track record of showbiz and/or TV reporting experience at a national title. Fantastic eye for detail and have a keen interest in the developments of the TV/showbiz world.
Deadline: February 24
Boardroom
Location: Remote, U.S.
Salary: $35-$45/hour
Requirements: 6+ months as a writer at a newsletter/website. Portfolio of content with engaging, authentic written voice. You study other writers and psychology to understand why people engage with certain types of content but not others, what makes them click and share.
Deadline: Rolling
Location: Remote, U.S.
Salary: Salary: $35-$45/hour
Requirements: Understand the topics our target audience are most interested in. Generate knowledge for CEOs. Draft insights into content worth publishing (primary newsletter as well as content for our website).
Deadline: Rolling
🇪🇺🇬🇧🇪🇺
Politico Europe
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Requirements: 1+ year of newsroom experience (internships/freelance counts.) Experience covering spot news and ability to write quickly and accurately to tight deadlines. Excellent written and spoken English. Fluency in multiple European languages a strong advantage. Background in European or national political news coverage an advantage. 100 wpm shorthand an advantage.
Deadline: Rolling
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Requirements: 3+ years’ experience, including competition policy, business or financial reporting experience. Knowledge of European politics and policy. Strong English-language writing skills. Ability to work under pressure and on deadline. Knowledge of other European languages is a plus.
Deadline: Rolling
Data Visualization Web Producer
Location: Brussels or London
Requirements: Newsroom experience and ability to meet deadlines. Experience with HTML or content management systems is preferred. Excellent command of Excel, as well as data analysis and visualization tools. Working knowledge of EU and/or national European politics and policy is a plus. Degrees and training in data journalism or one year of demonstrated experience are preferred. Written and verbal fluency in English is a must. Candidates should have acute attention to detail and accuracy, as well as enthusiasm to be a team player.
Deadline: Rolling
Preview of New Postings 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺🇨🇦
What Are The Twitter Files?
The Twitter Files are an archive of documents outlining the inner workings of Twitter. New owner and CEO Elon Musk released the “leak” in December, 2022 and disseminated the files to a group of independent journalists, highlighted by Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger.
Among the biggest threads to come out so far have been Twitter’s decision to limit the reach of the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop and his links to corruption ahead of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election; the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack and subsequent removal of Donald Trump from Twitter; and the platform’s secret blacklists that suppressed tweets from disfavored accounts.
Why The Lack Of Coverage?
The relative lack of coverage of the Twitter Files comes down to a number of reasons. Some of the biggest revelations took place more than a year ago, so naturally their impact will be blunted in the 24/7 news cycle. The trove of documents were also given to only a few select journalists. Without a doubt it’s better to have those documents in hand, but this doesn’t generally stop outlets from covering particular news items if they want to, especially if it’s of a similar magnitude as the Twitter Files.
I think the lack of coverage is a symbol of where we find ourselves in the culture war. As Vox’s Andrew Prokop details, “most liberals and many mainstream journalists are unimpressed. They say Twitter’s policies here were already known and that the specific decisions in question — blocking a story they feared stemmed from a foreign hack, banning the account of President Trump after he incited an insurrection, and deboosting accounts spreading public health misinformation — generally seem at least defensible.”
For the record, I’m not on one side or another as it pertains to the Twitter Files or any other topic. I think picking sides is dangerous and is largely why our society is so broken at the moment. I’ve long argued that the politicians we pay to represent us should be independent — I raised this notion with former UK Conservative Party MP and now independent politician Anna Soubry back in 2018.
What I find increasingly fascinating these days is the behavioural science — what leads people to make their decisions and think a certain way, and that includes the journalists and newsrooms covering these stories. The Files implicate a lot of people, both inside government agencies and some of the largest newsrooms. Sometimes one of the most difficult things to admit is that you’re wrong, because doing so is embarassing and bad for business. Of course, this news topic is incredibly nuanced, so these are just some of the reasons behind why we've seen a continued lack of coverage.
Here’s a quick graphic I spun up to outline just how under-the-radar the Twitter Files have gone. Thanks to Media Cloud, I was able to see the percentage of stories in the U.S. media that mentioned “Twitter Files” vs “Spy Balloon”. Both incredibly important stories, but only one grabbed serious attention.
What Next?
Arguably the largest revelation from the Twitter Files so far has been the previous management’s decision to limit the reach of the New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Whether or not they were right to do so is a question of not only politics, but also one of morality and ethics at the absolute core of freedom of speech. In recent congressional hearings in front of the House Oversight Committee, four former Twitter executives unequivocally admitted wrongdoing, but said their decision was not politically motivated and was instead based on the platform's policy on sharing hacked materials.
In isolation, this seems an honorable defense, but in context it's incredibly difficult to believe that politics didn't play a part in at least a small way. I do have sympathy for those Twitter executives, though. Whatever decision they made would have been intensely scrutinized by all sides and I can’t begin to imagine myself in such a situation. So I do respect their willingness to go on the record to admit they were wrong, something I’d like to see more people do.
As it pertains to Hunter Biden’s laptop and links to corruption, it's incredible just how long this story has been a story for, but that's what you get for not dealing with it the first time. I also don’t think it’s going away and it will almost certainly be used by the Republicans on the 2024 campaign trail which has already begun.
And lastly, we’re talking about Twitter because they’re the tech giant to have been taken over by one of the world’s richest people and arguably the most influential. Zooming out slightly, the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google will also come under increased scrutiny and speculation of their links to government and willingness to be influenced one way or another.