Collaborative Journalist Wanted

Representative Journalism logo
Here’s the job description for the RepJ reporter position. Please pass this around to those you think might be interested, either by copy/pasting the text or better yet, using the permalink/URL of this blog post.

Northfield, Minnesota has been chosen to try a new concept called Representative Journalism.

We are looking for an entrepreneurial journalist with experience both as a reporter (daily, weekly, or monthly publication) and with the online world (e.g., blogging, message boards, discussion lists, etc.). A willingness to engage with citizens (online and F2F) before, during and after publication of a story is mandatory. Knowledge of Northfield is helpful but not required.

The journalist’s stories will appear on Locally Grown, a two-year old blog and podcast about Northfield civic issues, with a large participatory following of area citizens and community leaders. The journalist will report directly to one of the nation’s most respected editors with a long distinguished career in journalism. See this Locally Grown blog post for more information.

This trial project will last approximately four months, but if successful could develop into a long-term job. For now this is a half-time, temporary position.

Email a letter of interest, resume, clips and references to Leonard Witt, lwitt@kennesaw.edu. Our team will be in Northfield and the Twin Cities on March 14-16 to talk with potential job candidates, so a prompt reply will be appreciated.

2 Comments

  1. Griff Wigley said:

    Here’s a newer (not yet final) version of the RepJ reporter job description.

    Representative Journalism Fellowship 2.0

    Help chart the future of local news and community. Apply for a Representative Journalism Fellowship. Leonard Witt, holder of the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication at Kennesaw State University, is leading a one-year trial in the college town of Northfield, Minn., 35 miles south of Minneapolis.

    The representative journalist will spend a year working with the LocallyGrownNorthfield.org citizen blogger site to report one in-depth story per week on a critical civic or social issue. The reporting will be an open, transparent process where citizens can offer facts, comments, and perspective as the story develops. The final form of the story will be published in digital and print formats. Often, citizens will convene to discuss the findings of the reporting and participate in public meet-ups to discuss the results and next actions. This is not an assignment for an order taker. You must be an enterprising, self starter. You must have a willingness to engage with citizens day in and day out. When needed, you will produce work in multiple formats, including print, web, radio, access-TV and other formats. This will increase civic dialog in a highly educated community of 17,000 people and inspire the community to support and sustain your work. Bringing to this job a magazine-writing sensibility with in-depth reporting experience would be helpful. In the end, we want to talk about Northfield’s strengths and weaknesses, its joys and tribulations, its people and its governmental, civic, educational and economic institutions. Part of our inspiration is the Public Journalism Network’s Charter Declaration, which says in part:

    • We believe the diversity and fragmentation of society call for new techniques for storytelling and information-sharing to help individual communities define themselves singularly and as part of the whole set of communities;
    • We believe in the value of studying the dynamics of communities and the complexity of public life;
    • We believe the best journalism helps people see the world as a whole and helps them take responsibility for what they see.

    http://pjnet.org/charter/

    Your day-to-day guidance will come from the community and the principals of Locally Grown. As a journalist, however, you will report to one of the nation’s most respected daily newspaper editors. You will receive regular guidance from participants in the Journalism That Matters collaborative and when requested from our highly respected national advisory board. The goal will be to provide high quality, ethically sound news and information, which will enrich the daily and civic lives of the people of Northfield. Email a letter of interest, resume, clips and references to Leonard Witt, lwitt@kennesaw.edu. A personal interview will be required at a mutually convenient location. To start immediately.

    March 27, 2008
  2. Griff Wigley said:

    Just a quick update on RepJ: there are two finalists for the journalist position. Ross and Tracy and I will be interviewing them in the next week.

    May 28, 2008

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