The Job

Social Spider Community News is an independent local news organisation with five community news publications, written by and for local people in north, east and central London.

We are looking for a new Community Reporter for Tottenham. The reporter will join the Haringey Community Press editorial team and be based at our office at the Selby Centre, N17 8LJ.

The role is part of the Community News Project, a partnership between Meta (formally Facebook), local news publishers and the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

It is initially a 22-month fixed term contract, with fully funded NCTJ training provided as part of the role.

Duties include:

• Writing articles for Haringey Community Press that reflect the experiences and perspectives of Tottenham’s diverse communities
• Develop Haringey Community Press’ online by posting regular articles to the website
• Interacting with local residents and community organisations in Tottenhnam via social media channels
• Working with residents and community organisations in Tottenham to create content
• Organising meetings or events to discuss key issues for communities in Tottenham
• Developing new relationships with the local community in Tottenham by attending events and forging new partnerships
• Undertaking funded NCTJ training towards a journalism qualification

Person Specification

We are looking for a candidate who is familiar with the Tottenham area and has good contacts with the local community.

The role is open both to those who already have an NCTJ Diploma in Journalism and would like to undertake a National Qualification in Journalism, and those who do not have a journalism qualification but would like to undertake the Diploma as part of their role.

The key attributes of the successful candidate are that they will be someone who is a great writer who really understands and cares about Tottenham. We are keen to receive applications from candidates who do not have formal qualifications in journalism (as well as those who do), particularly those from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the media.

Essential skills and experiences

• Have experience in journalism and/or strong writing skills;
• Have strong communication skills;
• Have strong organisational skills and knowledge of basic IT software;
• Have good interpersonal skills;
• Be confident working independently;
• Have experience of using social media;
• Be willing to work occasional evenings;
• Interest in local media

Responsible to
Luchia Robinson, Editor, Haringey Community Press

About us

Social Spider CIC is a social enterprise based in north London. We launched our first newspaper, Waltham Forest Echo in 2014 and have since launched Haringey Community Press, Enfield Dispatch, EC1 Echo and Barnet Post. We are a not-for-profit social enterprise that puts the concerns of our community at the heart of our publications. Our four print newspapers have a circulation of over 50,000. We are a small, fast-paced organisation developing a sustainable model for accountable and engaged local news when traditional models are in severe decline.

Deadline and contact

Please send a CV and cover letter to David Floyd at david@socialspider.com

Closing date for applications is Friday 18th March