We are seeking applicants for the GateHouse Media Agriculture Data Fellowship at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting in Champaign, Ill.
The agricultural data reporter will be embedded in the newsroom of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and will focus on in-depth agribusiness investigative reporting.
This fellowship will provide resources needed for the Midwest Center to more aggressively report on agribusiness and its impact on rural communities. The fellowship will also provide GateHouse Media with priority access to this reporting and to the Midwest Center’s robust archives and databases — enhancing the coverage of GateHouse newsrooms across the country. This strategic partnership will further empower GateHouse newsrooms, particularly in the Midwest and West, by providing additional highly focused and unique resources and content, as the newsrooms continue to develop products and services that target rural audiences.
The partnership follows GateHouse’s June announcement of the company’s investment in a national investigative and data-driven reporting team.
REQUIREMENTS
The Fellow will be required to produce a minimum of four in-depth data-driven stories over the course of the fellowship; regularly file Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain, clean and analyze data sets as related to agribusiness and agriculture; participate in four webinars on the use of those data sets; work with Midwest Center editorial team to produce data visualizations and interactive applications; work with GateHouse’s data team to localize data; and other editorial duties as required.
The Fellow will maintain full-time residency at the MCIR newsroom in Champaign, IL for the duration of the 12-month fellowship. Regional travel will be required. Travel and other project-related expenses will be provided.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required:
Experience as a news reporter and/or editor, especially investigative reporting and/or reporting on issues of importance to the Midwest and rural areas
Familiarity with data analysis tools such as Excel, Access, SQL
A bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, English, computer science or a related field
Preferred:
Experience with SQL, Access, or Python
Experience filing Freedom of Information Act requests for data sets
Experience with data visualization tools, web scraping tools and social network analysis tools
COMPENSATION
The Fellow will receive a one-year, $50,000 stipend.
HOW TO APPLY
Submit a resume, cover letter, three writing samples and three references to pamelagdempsey@investigatemidwest.org with the subject line “GateHouse Data Fellow’ by 5 PM CST on September 16, 2019.
About The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit, online newsroom offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness, big ag and related issues through data analysis, visualizations, in-depth reports and interactive web tools. Visit us online at www.investigatemidwest.org.
About GateHouse Media, LLC
GateHouse Media, headquartered in Pittsford, New York, is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Media Investment Group Inc., which is focused primarily on investing in a high quality, diversified portfolio of local media assets and on growing existing advertising and digital marketing and business services. GateHouse Media is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States, as measured by its 156 daily publications. As of May 2, 2019, the company operates in over 615 markets across 39 states, reaching over 22 million people on a weekly basis and serves over 200,000 business customers. For more information regarding GateHouse Media, please visit www.gatehousemedia.com.
