The Assembly is hiring up to three new full-time reporters to join our growing team.
The Assembly is a digital magazine bringing backroom conversations to North Carolina’s frontpage. We focus on enterprise stories, revelatory scoops, and authoritative looks at undercovered topics, people, and places.
Our stories surprise, inform, and leave readers with a better understanding of the state.
Among our biggest needs are reporters who want to cover:
- State Politics
- Criminal Justice and the Court System
- Higher Education
We’re hiring a slate of reporters this fall and we’re open to one or more hires being outside these beats. Our priority is finding curious, hungry reporters ready to build source networks and publish big stories.
Salary and Benefits
Starting salary will begin around $60,000; we are open to significantly higher salaries for more experienced reporters. We’ll ask you to be upfront during the interview process with your needs and we’ll do the same about our abilities.
We offer a competitive benefits package, including health care, parental leave and life insurance.
These positions will report to managing editor Kate Sheppard, and will work closely with the rest of our team.
How To Apply
Applications are straightforward: four questions and a resume.
- Describe your dream beat for The Assembly. Talk about your interest and experience on the subject – and why our readers should care about it.
- What do you believe makes a good story great? Give us an example of a great story and explain why.
- We aim for reporting that reveals new information and explains an issue’s broad context. Describe an experience in your career where you helped deliver both sides of that equation.
- Describe a difficult reporting challenge you have faced, and how you overcame it.
Send answers and a resume to info@theassemblync.com.
We’ll start reviewing applications on August 22 and expect to make hiring decisions in early to mid fall.
About The Assembly
The Assembly is a scrappy news start-up with a rapidly growing reputation for reporting the kind of stories that you won’t find anywhere else in the state. Launched in February 2021, we are now a team of five full-time employees with ambitious growth plans over the next few years.
We’re a subscriber-supported, for-profit outlet intent on elevating magazine-style journalism at the state-level. The majority of our funding comes from investors and subscribers with some strategic philanthropic investments to aid our growth. You can read more about our funding strategy here.
We partner with other outlets in the state and nationally, and our stories are regularly cited in outlets such as Politico, The Washington Post, Sunday Long Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Axios.
We aim to be a reflection of the state, with reporters from – and based in – diverse communities across North Carolina. We also aim to bring national talent to North Carolina that can help us improve the journalism ecosystem in a growing and important state.
We want a newsroom that reflects a diversity of talent and perspectives. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, people who were formerly incarcerated, veterans and people with disabilities.
Our Reporting Philosophy
We want reporters who want to write at the intersection of context and scoops. We’re not content with excellent explainers that don’t break new ground. Nor are we content with scoops that leave a reader without any real substance or nuance.
We want reporters who are unafraid to critique and explain – regardless of ideology or political affiliation.
We want reporters who are excited by hard editing. You’ll be going back into the field for a second and third draft – ensuring we capture the best form of the argument for and against – with the color and characters needed to make it resonate.
We’ll expect you to produce fewer stories than you’ve probably done in the past but of a higher quality. Your mandate is to provide a big monthly story – though some reporters might write more often.
We’re looking for reporters to own a statewide beat. Through full-time reporters, freelancers, and partnerships, we intend to bring to bear the resources necessary to be the go-to source on key topics in North Carolina.
Qualifications
Our reporters must:
- Have a distinct area of coverage and expertise
- Have an interest in unpacking the politics, policy, and people that define North Carolina
- Come with strong story ideas on the beat, both noteworthy scoops and definitive in-depth features
- Have a demonstrated ability to build, maintain, and leverage source networks
- Be able to work both independently and collaboratively
- Write with a clear, engaging voice that connects with our readers
Additional qualifications:
- At least three years reporting experience
- A record of publishing stories with impact
- Familiarity with The Assembly’s interests and style