The Citizens are using our skills as journalists to bring innovation to storytelling, accountability and public action.

We are a non-profit media organisation that launched 18 months ago. We are fast, experimental and impactful. We respond to what the moment requires: from investigative and campaigning journalism to inventing novel shadow governance models to bringing landmark litigation to blowing up Twitter with our viral creative media.

As a tiny startup we have punched far beyond our weight: mobilising rapid, collaborative, effective responses to some of the biggest challenges the world faced last year. But at the heart of everything we do is public interest journalism.

What Happens Next

We are currently rebuilding and relaunching our website to publish daily content and rapidly expanding our video production and output. We are experimenting with new journalistic formats including TikTok. And we are developing long-form content. We need a diverse pool of talent to draw on to help us grow.

If you are interested in the stories we want to tell around government accountability, transparency, the erosion of democratic norms and institutions and the dangers of unregulated big tech, please get in touch. We have a unique model supporting journalists to publish not just with us but in tandem with other publications and have opportunities to support journalists undertaking in-depth investigative work and exploring new formats.

Supported by philanthropic funding, we have launched a series of high-profile projects – including Independent SAGE in the UK and the Real Facebook Oversight Board in the US – using our skills as journalists to highlight and confront the lack of accountability of both governments and tech companies.

We are rigorous, evidence-based, factual. We are using today’s media tactics to take on today’s fights and bring the public with us.

Our small investigations team has investigated hundreds of UK government’s contracts and built an open-source database. We are now looking to expand it. Our creative team has produced a slate of activations from comedy skits with Rory Bremner to short-form documentaries. We are developing long-form projects with filmmakers, are about to launch a set of fellowships for investigative journalists and are incubating projects designed to tackle everything from platform accountability to dark money in UK politics.

We are experimental, reactive and creative. We look for opportunities in the news cycle to gain traction for our projects and drive forward our agenda of holding governments and big tech to account. Social media is a critical part of how we do this in real-time.

To date we have used social media, in particular Twitter as our core communication with the world. We have a weekly Substack newsletter. We are launching a new website which will see us consolidate and increase multimedia content and our role as a publisher.

Who We Need

To help us in this exciting next phase we need to grow our freelancer talent network. We need people who can help us find the stories, and tell them differently.

• Journalists
• Social media managers (background in public affairs or journalism)
• TikTok creators with journalism experience
• Social video editors/multimedia producers
• News reporters
• Editors
• Press officers / media bookers
• Data visualisation experts (able to do necessary coding)

It is essential to our values that the Citizens is a diverse and inclusive workplace, both at the Core Team level and across every single project we work on. Our internal team must therefore be an authentic reflection of the society we wish to empower. Reducing and eliminating inequality starts at home. We welcome different perspectives in our efforts to achieve this.

If you don’t fit neatly into any of the categories listed but have ideas for engaging content for the Citizens please do get in touch.

Our day rates range from £130-£240  depending on the role and your experience.

How To Apply

By submitting your details you give permission for us to store your answers on our freelancer database and we will be in touch as opportunities come up (which is often). Please email your CV, covering letter and examples of your work to kerry@the-citizens.com. Please mention Journo Resources when you apply, it really helps us out.

Please include a cover letter with any application that includes:

1. What about our mission attracts you? (max 50 words)
2. Describe your relevant experience (max 75 words)
3. Anything else you would like to tell us (max 50 words)