The Bristol Cable is looking for a journalist who is passionate about local journalism in the public interest.

The Cable is not your average newspaper. We’re a pioneering grassroots community-led media cooperative, and our award-winning newsroom is owned by more than 2,700 local people.

Founded in 2014 as an alternative to local media owned by big corporations and influenced by advertising interests, our mission is to produce truly independent journalism that serves Bristol’s communities. Together, we hold power to account through groundbreaking investigations, we campaign for change, and we amplify marginalised voices. We are rooted in local communities, but part of a wider movement to reinvent local media.

About The Role

As a Cable journalist, you won’t be tasked with churning out nine stories a day, generating surface-level content for clicks, which has become all too common for reporters. Instead, you’ll have the freedom to go in-depth on the stories you cover, to hone your craft, and develop patches. You’ll get involved with innovative long-term projects, with editorial series, reader engagement and solutions journalism.

We’re looking for someone who is keen to pursue a career in local and investigative journalism. You’ll have a passion for public interest reporting, keen to get out into the city to find and tell human-driven stories. You’ll cover underreported local issues to the highest standards of quality and accuracy, and be expected to build up local contacts and develop topic areas of expertise.

Aside from journalism, you will be part of the Cable cooperative. We’re run like a workers’ coop and make key strategic decisions as a team. You’ll be a member of a values-driven and purposeful team, with the freedom to shape your work, evolve your role, and contribute to our strategy. You will be able to learn, share, and be supported by team members who you’ll be collaborating with.

We offer a generous holiday allowance, including extra paid leave over the winter festive period, a yearly training budget, and peer mentoring to help you progress in your career and develop your journalism skills.

Role Responsibilities

• Pitch and regularly publish thorough and original local journalism, in particular impactful stories that holds power to account, engages readers and contributes to public debate
• Work collaboratively with other members of the media team on joint investigations and reporting
• Contribute to editorial decision-making and strategy
• Contribute to the general strategic development and operational work of the Bristol Cable
• Build a public professional profile and represent the Cable in community and industry forums

Person specification

We would like you to have at least some skills, experience or aptitude that demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria below, and where possible, the desirable criteria as well. Please refer closely to this person specification in your application.

We welcome examples drawn from your personal or voluntary experience, as well as paid employment.

Essential

• A passion for local, public interest journalism
• Good story ideas for issues in Bristol, in line with the Cable’s editorial approach and values
• Desire to get out the office and report from the communities we serve
• A flare for writing engaging features and human interest stories, accurately and to tight deadlines
• Strong editorial judgement, including sensitivity to ethical and political issues, how to frame stories, and what not to cover
• Excellent diligence and attention to detail
• A collaborative team player, as well as taking initiative and working independently
• Committed to the Cable’s journalistic and community mission to redefine local media

Desirable

• Previous journalism experience
• A specialist beat (e.g. environment, local politics, housing)
• Knowledge of Bristol’s communities, institutions and political landscape
• Understanding of media law and journalism ethics, or a willingness to engage in training in this area
• Data journalism skills
• Long-form journalism experience
• Experience working on podcasts and video
• Demonstrable knowledge of how to exploit a story for digital as well as print

Key Information

Contract: Permanent (subject to funding and three month probationary period)

Hours: 4 days per week (7.5 hours per working day). However, there is the potential for an increase in hours in the future, subject to funding.

Salary: £22,584 pro rata (Please note: The Cable has an equitable pay structure where the pay differential between the lowest and highest paid is no more than 20%. This is band 2 out of 5 – 5% above base. See below for more info)

Benefits:

• 36 days annual leave including bank holidays (pro rata), 25% more than standard statutory minimum,
• Up to 5 days extra paid time off at Christmas, and up to 15 days unpaid holiday allowance, both pro rata.
• Flexible working and professional development support and training budget.
• A pension scheme with 3% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution.
• Flexible working based on team hours, and a period policy, to help you work when works best for you
• A personal training and professional development allowance to help support you in your work.
• You will play a key role in a values-driven and purposeful team, with huge freedom to shape your work, evolve your role, and contribute to our strategy.
• Opportunities to take on cooperative management responsibilities.

Location: Bristol Cable office, The Station, Silver Street, Bristol, BS1 2AG (with work from home flexibility, but you will need to be able to attend the office several days a week)

Applications closing date: 10:00 am 31st October 2022

Interviews: Week commencing 7 November 2022.

How To Apply

Apply by using the link below. The deadline to apply is 31st October 2022 at 10:00am. Please mention Journo Resources when you apply, it really helps us out.

We particularly encourage applications from women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people from working-class backgrounds.

Interviews of shortlisted applicants will be held in person at our office on Silver Street the week commencing 7 November 2022

If you have any enquiries about the role or application process not answered above please email matty@thebristolcable.org or call 07533718547 (between 9:30am – 5:30pm Monday – Friday).

This application form is a space for you to tell us about your experience, skills and approach to working which make you suitable for the Journalist role.

Please refer closely to relevant parts of the person specification in your responses, providing concrete examples of where you demonstrate meeting the criteria where possible, and what you specifically achieved in those cases if relevant.

You may want to draft your responses to this application form in a different document. You can find all the questions listed below in this document: Bristol Cable journalist application questions. Download or make a copy of it to draft your responses before pasting them into the form linked below.