Vacancy expired!
MuckRock, a non-profit government transparency news site and tool suite, is looking for a reporter to help find interesting stories hidden in public records in Arkansas and share them with the world. Pieces can range from investigations into government spending to dubious law enforcements to exploring interesting data sets you've stumbled upon. To get a sense of what we're about, check out our prior reporting and social media, and see what our Virginia reporter has been doing in a similar role:
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/?authors=51
You'll be working with a small team and a large community of transparency enthusiasts, and will have the opportunity to have some of your reporting tie in to larger editorial projects, such as investigations into local surveillance or exploring corporate handouts. You'll also have unfettered access to MuckRock's various journalism tools, including its filing platform, crowdsourcing tools, DocumentCloud for document analysis, and more.
You'll also be assisting with our users' public records projects, including large scale reporting that has a national impact, by helping serve as a local resident for agencies that require it in your state. The hours are highly flexible and set by you, and all work would be remote. We collaborate via Slack, Google Docs, and email.
Requirements:
* Be a resident of Arkansas.
* Some prior reporting experience and writing samples, even if in an academic setting.
* Availability to either receive some mail at your home and forward it to our main office, or to check a mailbox we purchase for you on a weekly basis.
* Two references who have worked with you in some capacity.
* Have a photo ID indicating state residency.
Responsibilities:
* Two monthly articles based on a mix of public records, interviews with local transparency advocates, or external sources that either tells an interesting story based on public records or highlights important trends or changes in your state's public records access (such as the public records law changing or major litigation).
* Checking a mailbox convenient to you or at your home where some public records responses will be delivered, and forwarding them on as needed to our office for processing.
* Communicating with MuckRock staff about edits, story ideas, and administrative details.
* Following up with agencies to prove state residence on an occasional basis.
