Social Spider Community News is a growing group of social enterprise local newspapers based in north, east and central London – publishing high quality newspapers with and for local communities.

We are looking for a journalist to join our team as part of the BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service. The ideal candidate will be knowledgeable about and interested in the workings of local public bodies, focusing mainly on councils but also covering schools, the NHS and the police.

Your job will be to hold power to account and keep local people informed about the decisions being taken on their behalf. About the role This is a full-time, 35 hours per week role as Local Democracy Reporter for the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham.

The role involves ensuring that local residents are kept informed and engaged with local democratic issues. The reporter is responsible for providing reliable, fair, balanced, accurate and timely coverage of local democracy issues within Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham.

The reporter will be based primarily with our partners Social Streets CIC at their office in Roman Road in Tower Hamlets. The annual salary is £28,995.25 Responsible to Editor-in-chief, Social Spider Community News

Purpose Of The Role

• To ensure that matters, decisions and issues relating to the public authorities are covered in a timely, impartial and audience-friendly way
• To generate content which engages the public and which meets all standards set by the partnership in terms of quality, impartiality, consistency and legal accuracy
• Be a public ambassador for the project and become a trusted source of news and information about the public authorities covered.

Key Responsibilities

• Write nine stories per week based around local democracy issues, ideally split evenly between the three boroughs
• Ensure agendas for councils and public bodies are scrutinised, identifying issues and stories which need to be brought to the public’s attention.
• Working with your editor, identify which meetings need to be covered and reported
• Cover council meetings in the three boroughs on a weekly basis, except at times of year when council activities wind down
• Build strong contacts for story-gathering within local communities

Person Specification

We are looking for a candidate who is familiar with East London and has:

• Good writing skills, up-to-date legal knowledge, shorthand proficiency (e.g. 100 wpm)
• A prior knowledge of local issues in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking & Dagenham is desired but not essential
• Excellent at working under pressure and identifying priorities
• Be familiar with digital tools and techniques across a range of mobile devices
• Strong understanding of working and processes within local government
• Demonstrable experience of delivering great ideas for content
• Strong contact-building skills

How To Apply

If you are interested in this role, please email a CV, a short covering letter outlining your interest and relevant experience to david@socialspider.com. Please mention Journo Resources, it really helps us out.

The closing date for expressions of interest is Friday, May 23rd 2025

Interviews will take place from Thursda,y May 29th 2025

About Social Spider Community News

Social Spider Community News is part of Social Spider CIC, a not-for-profit social enterprise that publishes five community newspapers – Waltham Forest Echo, Haringey Community Press, Enfield Dispatch, Newham Voices, Barnet Post and EC1 Echo.