Fellowships

Sentient Media Editorial Fellowship

Sentient Media is a nonprofit media reporting on factory farming and animal policy. We publish a wide variety of content focusing on five key pillars: science, climate, agriculture, policy and health. 

Our mission is to report and publish news coverage that brings public awareness to the agriculture industry’s impact on the climate crisis, extraction of natural resources and systemic exploitation of those bound up in food production. We’re doing this with investigative journalism, fact-checked explainers, resources for journalists covering food and farming and partnerships with publishers.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Sentient Media is seeking an Editorial Fellow to join our team. This fellowship runs for six months beginning in February 2024, with the possibility of extending the position.

With mentorship and support from Sentient Media’s staff, the Editorial Fellow will write and report, fact-check, research and cultivate news stories for Sentient Media.

The total pay for this six-month position is $30,000 USD. Sentient Media’s team is remote but the fellow must be a resident in the USA and compatible with East Coast USA. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Identify and pitch ideas for stories that fit Sentient Media’s editorial strategy
  • Assist with editorial duties including research, web production and fact-checking
  • Write 1 to 3 stories — including quick news and analysis pieces — each week
  • Help curate stories for and write Sentient Media’s newsletters
  • Pitch, report and write one enterprise/feature story by the end of the fellowship
  • Contribute periodically to larger projects as part of a team
  • Engage actively in editorial and organization meetings

QUALIFICATIONS

The mission of the Sentient Media fellowship program is to help underrepresented, early-career food and farming journalists gain a stronger foothold in our industry. Our definition of “early-career” includes but is not limited to: journalists who are relatively new to the food and farming beat, freelancers who have not had full-time newsroom experience, recent journalism school graduates, and scientists without traditional journalism training but with strong news writing clips and content knowledge. 

Other requirements

  • Four-year degree, or equivalent professional experience
  • Strong understanding of Sentient Media’s brand
  • Understanding that Sentient Media is a media outlet, not an advocacy group
  • Demonstrated familiarity with food systems, animal policy and factory farming
  • Demonstrated experience in research and reporting
  • Demonstrated comfort with writing on deadline
  • Ability to make a full-time, 6-month commitment
  • Legally able to work in the United States
  • Living in the United States for the duration of the fellowship
  • Available during standard work hours compatible with Eastern time zone.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Sentient Media fellow will meet regularly with members of the editorial staff to develop skills and content knowledge specific to food systems journalism
  • Fellows will also receive training on a range of crucial skills, from filing FOIA requests to fact-checking to feature writing
  • Fellows benefit from full integration into the workings of a busy and exciting nonprofit media organization
  • Fellows come away with 6 months of solid newsroom experience, a body of clips, and a better understanding of food and farming issues

THE APPLICATION

Deadline: January 15th 2024 

Applicants must submit each of the following materials to [email protected] with the subject line: Fellowship Postion:

  1. Resume
  2. Cover letter. We are looking for a succinct, thoughtful cover letter that explains your interest and experience in news coverage of factory farms and animal policy (Prop 12, EATS Act, etc), gives examples of news story ideas you might want to pursue and reasons you believe you are a good fit for the Sentient Media Editorial fellowship. Applications without both a resume and cover letter will not be considered. 
  3. Links to two news writing samples. These can appear within or appended to the end of your cover letter. Writing samples can be news or magazine clips. These should be news-oriented, not essays or opinion pieces. We will gladly accept links to multimedia samples (video, illustration, infographic, podcast, etc.) but cannot review original files. 
  4. Candidates who are asked to submit a writing or editing test will be compensated.

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to Sentient Media’s focus on advancing equity. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with diverse colleagues of varied experience. Candidates of all backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Sentient Media is an equal-opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.



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