Journalism Program Manager

Position Status: Full time, salaried, exempt. This is a 2-year fixed term position, with continuation dependent on funding and other strategic considerations.

Work Location: Washington, D.C,. or remote home office within the U.S.

Position summary:
Free Press and Free Press Action work to amplify the voices of people and communities in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what’s actually happening in their communities. We work at the intersection of media and technology to strengthen our democracy.

Free Press is leading the charge on innovative campaigns and policies to transform local journalism, including the passage of New Jersey’s Civic Information Bill and our efforts to help launch the publicly funded California Local News Fellowship. Building off these successes, Free Press seeks an journalism program manager to focus on building the power needed to win news policies at the local, state, and national level that focus on the information needs of individuals and communities. The manager will play a key role in overseeing, deepening and growing our work with the Media Power Collaborative – a Free Press-led coalition that brings together local journalism innovators, academic experts and grassroots organizers to learn about how organizing can change the media system, and gaining knowledge and tactics to advocate for equitable journalism and civic information policies.

In addition to the Media Power Collaborative, the manager will engage a national network of allies to respond to legislation moving at the local and state level, working closely with allied organizations, legislative staff and other key stakeholders. They will publish and promote their own original ideas and analysis, collaborate closely with colleagues inside the organization, and serve as a resource to allies, policymakers, funders and others.

The manager will be a core member of the journalism program team at Free Press. They will work with our team and a network of allies and outside advisers to discover and design answers to the most pressing questions facing the future of media and democracy – and work to create high-impact campaigns, shape public debates and pursue media justice. They will also represent Free Press in coalition meetings, present at conferences, and write blog posts, press releases, and articles for a range of outlets and audiences.

The journalism program manager will report to the senior director of journalism and civic information. This job requires flexibility in work schedule, generally aligning to U.S. East Coast hours. This position requires evening and weekend work during peak campaign cycles or in the lead up to special events. Regular local, regional and national domestic travel is required, including to events or meetings hosted by others.

Free Press is composed of two separate organizations, Free Press and Free Press Action Fund. Both entities share the same overall mission and employees will have time assigned to one or both entities. This job description refers collectively to the two organizations under the name “Free Press.”

Primary Responsibilities:

• Managing the Media Power Collaborative: Organize and coordinate the Media Power Collaborative, including deepening and expanding the network, communicating with members, developing and executing programming, creating and distributing media policy educational materials, and activating members to take action to improve the media system

• Policy tracking and advocacy: Track local, state, and national policies that focus on journalism, local news, and civic information and identify opportunities to engage in advocacy campaigns to pass legislation to better serve community information needs

• Coalition engagement: Represent Free Press in networks and coalitions to advance short- and long-term campaign goals. Identify, analyze, prioritize and pursue opportunities to develop relationships with academics and leaders of key institutions and organizations. Coordinate and bolster coalition efforts to bring community voices into policymaking, legislative and regulatory processes

• Issue-area expertise: Develop and maintain deep knowledge around local news and information policies, the future of journalism, media ownership and media reparations along with broad knowledge of media, telecommunications, and/or related technology issues

• Public speaking and content creation: Contribute to the creation of compelling public narratives and public-education materials for a variety of audiences to advance campaign objectives. Serve as a Free Press representative in coalitions, lobbying opportunities with policymakers, panels and presentations, media opportunities, and public events and rallies, protests and panels

• Advancing race equity and reparative policies: Clearly and consistently articulate an understanding of racial equity and structural racism and the centrality of this analysis to the policy work Free Press does and how we operate. Routinely assess and produce policies, practices and decisions regarding our policy agenda that are more likely to produce equitable and reparative outcomes. Integrate that knowledge into work projects and interactions by addressing structural implications and disproportionate impacts of policies, activities and decisions on race, class, gender and other group identities within the context of job responsibilities and projects

Desired Skills and Attributes:

• Commitment to racial equity and experience working with communities of color
• Creative self-starter, able to work independently and with limited oversight to accomplish agreed upon objectives and to evaluate results
• Able to work under tight deadlines, navigate competing priorities and effectively adjust work plans to respond to emergent challenges or opportunities
• Able to remain positive, tactful and composed under pressure
• A personal approach that values the individual and respects differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstance
• A team player with a low-ego approach to collaboration with both internal and external colleagues
• Able to develop and maintain relationships with a wide range of external organizations
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
• Fluency in Spanish and/or languages other than English is a plus
• Value and respect differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstance
• Dedication to Free Press’ mission of fighting for everyone’s rights to connect and communicate, in addition to the overall success of the organization.

Experience and Qualifications:

• No minimum education is required; a bachelor's degree may be an indicator of capacity for this position
• 3 or more years of directly relevant experience in a nonprofit public interest organization or similar setting is required
• Experience working with, building and leading coalitions
• Experience working with and knowledge of local and state level organizations
• Strong interest in media and technology issues and demonstrated experience working on those or similar issues
• Demonstrated capacity for full-charge “ownership” of program or administrative areas that are integral to day-to-day organizational functions
• Experience supervising volunteers or interns
• Experience liaising with colleagues in allied organizations
• Attention to detail, flexibility and demonstrated capacity to operate in a fast-paced environment
• Must have ability to succeed in a predominately telework/remote office environment, including working with an off-site manager, adopting and maintaining strong digital security practices, and fostering connection and community with colleagues located throughout the U.S.

Covid - 19 Vaccination:

All Free Press employees must be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or have an approved medical or religious/ethical/moral accommodation.

Compensation:

Free Press is committed to offering competitive pay and generous benefits, including

• Group medical, dental and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Employer contribution to retirement plans (no matching required)
• Flexible health, commuter and dependent care spending accounts
• Paid family leave
• Annual paid time off is a total of ten weeks, including vacation, health-care leave and holidays
• Stipends for business use of personal phones and for home office locations
• All employees receive computers and equipment necessary for the job
• A flexible, supportive work culture

This position is categorized as a “career level 2” position, in the context of five classifications at Free Press, ranging from coordinator to executive.

The starting salary at Free Press for a journalism program manager who meets the above qualifications is $65,000 - $75,000. Starting salary is based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. To counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, we use a nonnegotiable starting salary system, while benchmarking our pay to competitive markets in the nonprofit sector.

Free Press Is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We value excellence and diversity in our workforce. People of color, women, people with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, gender-nonconforming and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you meet some of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply or to reach out for more information. We know groups subjected to systemic oppression– including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ – are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other communities who are marginalized.

How to apply:

Complete our online application.  Fully answering the application questions is an important part of the application process; 4-5 sentences in response to each question will help us understand your thinking.

Our hiring process includes an initial 20-30 minute interview with one staff person, one or two hour-long interviews with 3-4 staff members, and reference checks after the final interview.

We provide reasonable accommodations for the application, interview, or any other aspect of the employee selection process to applicants with disabilities. Please email amartyn@freepress.net to request an accommodation.

Key dates:

Applications submitted by February 28, 2023 will be reviewed with priority; applications submitted after that date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.   This search will remain open until the position is filled. The ideal candidate will be available to begin work in April 2023.