The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. We achieve this through award-winning journalism, partnerships with other news outlets and public forums. In all of our work we strive to educate and enlarge the audience of people who care about the state of criminal justice.
Who We Are
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering America’s criminal justice system. In 2016 and 2021, The Marshall Project was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. We have also been honored with the Goldsmith Prize, multiple National Magazine Awards, and for General Excellence from the Online Journalism Awards. We are not advocates — we follow the facts and we do not pander to any audience — but we have a declared mission: to create and sustain a sense of urgency about the criminal justice system. We do not generally cover breaking news, although we curate the reporting of other news outlets in our morning newsletter. Our work includes investigative and explanatory projects and shorter pieces aimed at highlighting stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To assure our work reaches a larger audience, we partner with other media outlets; we have worked with more than 200 newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online sites.
We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
We have TWO openings to join our audience team as engagement producers. These roles will have significant overlap in duties and we expect them to operate as a team. It is our hope that the successful candidates will each have an area of focus that complements each other. See duties below:
- Share Marshall Project journalism to social media platforms regularly, including writing social copy, producing quote cards and other visuals
- Work with Marshall Project journalists to engage with a social audience on various callouts and story promotion
- Assist with on-site SEO, including headline writing
- Use analytics from platforms to derive meaningful insights to help drive audience strategy
- Work with the Audience Director to set ambitious goals around audience growth and audience engagement
- Produce and share video content across social platforms
- May occasionally be asked to support Newsletters Manager and/or Engagement Editor in related projects
What You’d Be Working On
- Writing sharp social copy for platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Twitter and Facebook with reporters on upcoming stories and investigations or teaming up with staff on other external Marshall Project communications
- Developing a roll-out plan for a big project drop, working in tandem with our communications and fundraising teams
- Producing social visual assets, ranging from quote cards to Instagram carousels to short video clips
- Organizing AMA sessions with Marshall Project journalists on Reddit or other platforms
- Investigating and experimenting with emerging social platforms, staying abreast of trends and scams
- Assisting and guiding local reporters with engagement projects
- Working collaboratively to develop and test the local strategy for social video
- Shooting and/or producing social videos across The Marshall Project’s accounts
- Occasionally assist development colleagues on marketing initiatives with social media
Who You’d Be Working With
- Ashley Dye, our Audience Director and hobbyist bird photographer
- Rachel Kincaid, our Newsletter Manager and survivor of Minnesota winters
- Another audience engagement producer
Preferred Skills and Experiences
- Skilled in both written and visual aspects of off-platform storytelling and audience development
- Experience telling investigative stories and sharing highly nuanced journalism on social media platforms
- Experience shooting and editing videos for a variety of social distribution channels
- Experience managing and growing branded social media accounts, ideally in a news or nonprofit environment
- Thoughtful writing and editing skills, ability to break down complex ideas and coverage into nuanced and informational language for a social audience
- Ability to adhere authentically to The Marshall Project’s established independent, nonpartisan journalistic voice and tone across platforms, while still enticing and engaging our audiences
- Having thoughts about how to reach previously incarcerated people or others touched by the criminal justice system, whether online or offline
We are headquartered in New York City, but these positions are remote within the United States.
Nice to Haves
- Specific national newsroom or journalism experience
- Personal experience or specialized interest in the criminal justice system
We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all these areas, and this is not a complete list of all relevant qualifications applicants might bring to the job. Please tell us about your other assets not mentioned here that may be valuable to this role. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us.
If you do not have the exact combination of skills listed here, but are still interested in this role and/or in The Marshall Project, we'd love to hear from you.
Compensation and Benefits
This job is full-time, with a competitive salary and benefits including:
Annual Salary Range: $75,000 - $85,000
100% employer-paid medical, employer subsidized vision and dental insurance; matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting). Voluntary benefits include: Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, short and long term disability insurance, employee and dependent life insurance, AFLAC accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage, legal benefits, personal excess liability insurance, and employee discount marketplace. We also observe 17 days of paid time off each year (in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2), and provide paid parental leave.
How to Apply
To apply, use this form to send your resume and a cover letter that includes your philosophy on audience engagement. Attach 3-5 social media clips with links; if a clip is expired (ie: Instagram Story), attach screenshots or screen recordings.
Due to the expected volume of applications, we will follow up with the most promising candidates, but cannot respond individually to all applicants. Please know it usually takes us more than a month to review applications.
Who We Are
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering America’s criminal justice system. In 2016 and 2021, The Marshall Project was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. We have also been honored with the Goldsmith Prize, multiple National Magazine Awards, and for General Excellence from the Online Journalism Awards. We are not advocates — we follow the facts and we do not pander to any audience — but we have a declared mission: to create and sustain a sense of urgency about the criminal justice system. We do not generally cover breaking news, although we curate the reporting of other news outlets in our morning newsletter. Our work includes investigative and explanatory projects and shorter pieces aimed at highlighting stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To assure our work reaches a larger audience, we partner with other media outlets; we have worked with more than 200 newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online sites.
We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Marshall Project’s Inside Story team seeks an ambitious research intern to lead our second survey of incarcerated people in summer 2023.
In 2020, The Marshall Project designed and launched our first-ever ethnographic survey of incarcerated people. We hoped to learn about their experiences and their needs.
Over the course of five months, the team identified and approached eight ambassadors who were incarcerated. They then worked together to design the survey questions and asked 10 people in their facility to be interviewed.
- Design and oversee execution of an updated ethnographic study of incarcerated people, working in partnership with Inside Story leadership
- Identify and manage relationships with incarcerated partners
- Analyze and synthesize results of the survey
- Present research findings as audience personas for TMP leadership
- May also support additional day-to-day operations of Inside Story and News Inside
Who You’d Be Working With
The Inside Story and News Inside team are excited to welcome a research intern to help run the next iteration of our survey of our incarcerated audience.
Our team is led by Lawrence Barley, publisher of The Marshall Project Inside. He is supported by Tammy Galarza, Martin Garcia, Donald Washington, Jr. and Louis Fields.
Job Requirements
- Experience with ethnographic research, either as a principal investigator or a supporting role
-OR-
- Similar and equivalent experience with audience research
- Strong people and communication skills
- Excellent ability to meet deadlines, set priorities and communicate project updates with stakeholders
- Strength in analyzing survey results and synthesizing information
- Proficiency in basic office and computer applications and project management tools
We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all of these areas, and this is not a fully inclusive list of all relevant qualifications and skills applicants may bring to the role. Please describe your other assets not mentioned here that may be valuable for this job. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us. If you do not have the exact combination of skills and experience listed here, but are still interested in The Marshall Project, we’d love to hear from you.
Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time position set at $15 an hour.
This position begins on June 5, 2023 and ends August 10, 2023.
We provide: 100% employer-paid medical, employer subsidized vision and dental insurance; matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting). Voluntary benefits include: Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, short and long term disability insurance, employee and dependent life insurance, AFLAC accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage, legal benefits, personal excess liability insurance, and employee discount marketplace. We also observe 17 days of paid time off each year (in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2), and provide paid parental leave.
How to Apply
To apply, please use this form to send a cover letter and resume. In your cover letter please include responses to the following:
- Tell us about your experience managing ethnographic research projects
- Describe your experience analyzing and synthesizing survey results
If a candidate has been impacted personally by the justice system, we encourage you to apply. This experience is NOT a requirement.
Due to the expected volume of applications, we will follow up directly with the most promising candidates. We are not able to respond individually to all applicants. Please know it usually takes more than a month for our team to review applications
All are welcome and encouraged to apply.
Who We Are
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering America’s criminal justice system. We have won two Pulitzer Prizes: in 2021 for national reporting and in 2016 for explanatory journalism; we were also a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting. We are not advocates—we follow the facts and we do not pander to any audience—but we have a declared mission: to create and sustain a sense of urgency about the criminal justice system. We do not generally cover breaking news (although we curate the reporting of other news outlets in our morning newsletter). Our work includes investigative and explanatory projects and shorter pieces aimed at highlighting stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To assure our work reaches a larger audience we partner or co-publish with other media outlets on almost all of our work; we have partnered with more than 100 newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online sites.
We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Marshall Project is expanding its award-winning accountability criminal justice journalism to communities across the country where local news resources to cover this urgent issue are being slashed or eliminated. Criminal justice is overwhelmingly a local matter. Police departments, courts, judges, prosecutors and other arms of the justice system are run by people elected locally, and laws regulating them are passed by state and local governments. To examine whether these institutions are serving the public fairly, communities need journalists equipped with the reporting, editing, data, visual and community outreach resources to investigate abuses and communicate with a wide range of people whose fates depend on how the justice system is run.
Cleveland houses our first nonprofit journalism team, staffed by local reporters who know their community better than anyone. Our national team provides editorial and operational support. We will work in partnership, not competition, with local journalists and existing news outlets.
We produce journalism that is written for, and accountable to, the communities in which the teams are based. We write for people with power to implement changes when abuses are exposed, and for those who have felt powerless. A core part of our mission includes expanding our sources and readers to make sure we are talking to people who often feel excluded by the news media -- while maintaining our commitment to fact-based reporting. Investigative, data and engagement journalism will be central to our model.
We are committed to alternative ways of telling stories so we make sure our journalism reaches those behind bars, who might face literacy challenges or who haven’t traditionally received their information from written news outlets.
- The editor-in-chief will set journalistic priorities, investigative targets and engagement projects; edit and oversee a diverse reporting team; and uphold rigorous journalistic standards of fairness and accuracy. The job requires ability to help conceptualize and coach reporters on story framing and reporting strategies, as well as line-editing the resulting articles. The Cleveland editor-in-chief reports to the Managing Editor, Local.
- Oversee the team’s engagement journalism in collaboration with The Marshall Project's engagement editor and Cleveland's engagement reporter. Engagement journalism is the third pillar of our strategic plan. This work requires ensuring our reporting is both relevant and accessible to Cleveland's justice affected audience, which includes incarcerated people and their families. This work might include community outreach, live events, local broadcast partnerships, and a range of innovative ways to both generate and distribute our journalism.
- Actively seek out community input in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County; cultivate an ongoing dialogue with a range of local stakeholders, from criminal justice officials to those affected directly by the criminal justice system.
- Oversee local partnerships in tandem with our national partnership team.
- Coordinate with The Marshall Project’s centrally-based teams, including data, photography and illustrations, audience, design, production, partnership, technology, development and HR.
Job Requirements
We are looking for an experienced, innovative news leader with a track record of producing ambitious journalism with impact and fostering workplaces that are fair, humane, and inclusive. You need a collaborative spirit, resourcefulness, willingness to wear many hats, and openness to experimentation. Since this is a new venture and we’re still learning, you should be adaptable and ready to pivot as needed.
- You must be comfortable with the technology and management of a remote and hybrid team, able to communicate clearly and efficiently with both your team on the ground in Cleveland and the many colleagues who support the team at The Marshall Project remotely.
- Substantial experience leading news coverage, managing journalists and meeting the news needs of local communities. Knowledge of criminal justice issues is essential; it’s an added asset to know key institutions and stakeholders in the Cleveland area.
- Experience in conceiving and editing investigative projects would be ideal. Experience in working with data teams and data projects would be helpful, though data support will be provided by The Marshall Project’s central data team.
- Experience with, or interest in, telling stories in nontraditional forms and with engagement journalism -- reimagining storytelling forms, distribution platforms, and information needs of readers so that our journalism reaches a wide range of people, including those behind bars or justice-affected communities who seldom see news that could affect their own lives or reflects their lived experiences.
- Ability to manage a range of talent and experience levels; a successful candidate will understand how to meet staffers where they are and help them build skills as needed.
You must live in or be willing to move to the Cleveland/Cuyahoga county area soon after starting this position.
We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all these areas, and this is not a complete list of all relevant qualifications applicants might bring to the job. Please tell us about your other assets not mentioned here that may be valuable to this role. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us. If you do not have the exact combination of skills listed here, but are still interested in this role and/or in The Marshall Project, we'd love to hear from you.
Compensation and Benefits
This job is full-time, with a competitive salary and benefits including:
Annual Salary Range: $130,000 - $150,000
100% employer-paid medical, employer subsidized vision and dental insurance; matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting). Voluntary benefits include: Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, short and long term disability insurance, employee and dependent life insurance, AFLAC accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage, legal benefits, personal excess liability insurance, and employee discount marketplace. We also observe 17 days of paid time off each year (in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2), and provide paid parental leave.
How to Apply
To apply, use this form to send a cover letter, resume, and 3 work samples.
Due to the expected volume of applications, we will follow up with the most promising candidates, but cannot respond individually to all applicants.