We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
The Marshall Project seeks an experienced reporter and data journalist to join our growing team dedicated to high impact reporting on criminal justice and immigration enforcement in the United States, two beats not known for having a wealth of quality or consistent data.
Applicants for the data reporter position at The Marshall Project must have demonstrated analytical expertise and reporting using established sources of data or assembling their own through public records and databases. They should have a gift for writing fair, clear and engaging stories explaining complex subjects. They should have a track record of producing data-driven enterprise that gets results.
A record of in-depth reporting on criminal justice—policing, prosecution, courts, prisons and jails—is a significant asset.
The job consists of two major parts: identifying, conceiving and executing major projects that require deep reporting, enterprising data analysis, original insight and narrative grace; and contributing shorter, quick-turnaround pieces that shed light on issues of criminal justice. In addition to pursuing their own stories, data journalists here regularly work with other staff writers who need assistance in gleaning insight from data they’ve unearthed for their projects.
The Senior Data Reporter will be expected to:
- be first and foremost a journalist with a mastery of the craft of reporting, interviewing and research skills from a plethora of sources, including people, documents and online resources.
- have a mastery of journalistic data analysis, using database managers and statistical software, ideally with a modern programming language such as R or Python.
- pitch ideas for original stories and contribute data analysis and visualizations to stories conceived by others.
- identify and understand the extant data on the beat, including major new research being undertaken in the area.
- craft basic, exploratory visualizations to accompany analyses for colleagues in the newsroom and to work with others to produce graphics for publication.
- collaborate with colleagues from The Marshall Project and partner organizations—print, broadcast and online—especially in local markets.
- conduct data analysis on deadline, as needed, accurately and with sophistication.
- have an interest in criminal justice issues and the future of digital storytelling.
Bonus:
- a solid knowledge of statistical techniques and how they can be applied to journalistic endeavors
- knowledge of D3, the Javascript visualization library, as well as HTML and CSS
- familiarity with the command line and Git
If you don’t have this exact combination of skills, that’s fine. Tell us what your strengths are, and let us know about other skills you have that we didn’t ask about that you think will help our newsroom’s efforts.
This job reports to the Managing Editor for Digital and Data. Ideally this person would be based in our New York City newsroom, but we are open to strong candidates who would like to work remotely.
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering America’s criminal justice system. In 2016, The Marshall Project was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting. We have won two George Polk Awards and a 2017 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. We are not advocates 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 aims to highlight stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To assure our work reaches a larger audience, we partner or co-publish with other news 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.