About the role

openDemocracy is looking for an investigative reporter to produce original, in-depth stories. Joining our award-winning UK investigations team, you will have a particular focus on dark money and political corruption.

Money can have a corrupting influence on politics and public life, which can distort democracy and fuel inequality. Using a range of investigative techniques, you will expose political corruption, fraud and conflicts of interest – and reveal how opaque funding structures are used to conceal wrongdoing, be it ethical or legal.

With an emphasis on the real-life impact that these issues have, your investigations may sometimes result in stories that touch on subjects like social injustice, human rights, climate change and transparency in public life.

This role requires a broad range of investigative skills, including working with sources and whistleblowers, data analysis and FOI. In particular, you will have specific experience of financial investigations and be comfortable reading company accounts and following flows of money. Experience of undercover journalism would be a bonus, but not essential.

Most importantly, we are looking for someone with an armoury of ambitious and exciting ideas who can hit the ground running and knows how to turn around a good investigation.

This is an exciting role for an ambitious journalist who will approach the work with creativity and initiative to produce their own major investigations. You will also sometimes collaborate with other journalists on the UK investigations team, as well as developing ideas and tip-offs from the UK investigations editor.

The UK investigations team works collaboratively with other openDemocracy teams to ensure our stories create maximum impact. As such, an understanding of the political and media landscape – as well as an understanding of how to promote stories on social media – is also important.

Key responsibilities

Requirements (essential)

• At least three years’ experience working for national or local newsrooms, including a track record of investigative journalism;
• Experience of investigating corporate or political finances;
• A strong news sense and good editorial judgement;
• Experience of developing stories on your own as well as working collaboratively with other journalists;
• A strong understanding of issues like corporate structures, opaque flows of money, financial misconduct and political corruption;
• Skilled at using a range of journalistic resources, such as company accounts, FOI, government transparency filings, data analysis, whistleblowers and sources;
• Comfortable using data and spreadsheets to find stories;
• Good at meeting deadlines and juggling multiple stories at once;
• An understanding, commitment and enthusiasm for openDemocracy’s values and objectives.

Requirements (desirable)

• Expertise in more niche types of investigative reporting, such as undercover journalism or OSINT;
• Experience of dealing with legal compliance.

To Apply

Click here to apply for the role of investigative reporter.

Please send us the following by Sunday, 5 November 2023.

• CV (no more than two sides of A4)
• Cover letter (no more than two sides of A4)
• Please also include copies or links to three investigations you have had published. If there are joint bylines (or no bylines) then please explain what you contributed towards the piece.

Interview

Be prepared to talk about at least two ideas for possible investigations. We are not asking you to pitch completed stories, but simply to be able to discuss in broad terms some areas or issues that you’d be keen to look into and how you would go about finding a story.

About openDemocracy

openDemocracy is an international independent media outlet dedicated to challenging power and inspiring change. Our recent reporting – for example on misinformation, women’s and LGBTIQ rights, Covid-19 and the influence of ‘dark money’ on society – has triggered law change, parliamentary debate, criminal and regulatory investigations, action by public health bodies and much more. Our stories attract widespread media coverage, including in The New York Times, The Guardian, New Yorker, Daily Mail, CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera and many others across the world.

As a trusted source of news, information and insight for millions of readers around the world, we’ve built a strong community of supporters who share our commitment to tackling injustice and inequality.

We believe in equal opportunities and we want to help build a more diverse and inclusive media ecosystem. We particularly welcome expressions of interest from candidates whose backgrounds are underrepresented in the media.