Fellow, Politics

Position Information:

Start Date: January 8, 2024 – November 29, 2024
Hours: 40 hours per week
Location: St. Paul, MN
Pay: $18/hour - $23/hour (salary will be based on individual's education and/or relevant experience)

Fellow, Politics – MPR News:

The MPR News Politics Fellowship Program is an exciting opportunity for a developing journalist to join our politics team during a big election year. This fellowship will give you real-world experience covering politics and government stories while working with a high-performing team of reporters, editors, and producers.

The goal is to give you, the Fellow, full access to our newsroom, along with its tools and resources. This position helps MPR News develop the next generation of public media talent by training journalists who will create exceptional content for MPR News platforms. Your work will be a vital part of our coverage and will help expand our audience's understanding of Minnesota politics, campaigns, and legislative activities.

This position requires you to work in Minnesota. In addition, while you have an assigned shift, the daily news cycle and our staffing needs may require early morning, night and/or weekend work. A supervisor will manage your overall experience. In addition, an editor will be assigned to help with day-to-day assignments and guidance.

Key Learning Goals:

The training and reporting opportunities provided over the course of this fellowship will deepen your understanding of the role and responsibilities of a political journalist through first-hand experience covering the legislative session, campaign season and elections.
This program will help you build a network with other professionals in the industry.

Responsibilities:

We want you to take your journalism to the next level. Our Political Fellow role equips talented writers with an interest in building multimedia skills to deliver compelling election coverage across platforms.

In this fast-paced position, you will:

Produce Audio Reporting - Develop your radio reporting talent, from recording to scriptwriting and sound mixing.
Explore Digital Storytelling - Craft articles for our website and newsletter, enhanced through visuals and social video training.
Collaborate with Experts - Brainstorm and share ideas with our politics team and be given the opportunity to learn from established media professionals at the top of their field.
Gain Production Experience - Receive training to book guests, contribute to specials and election night coverage.
Expand Your Portfolio - See your byline grow through regular on-air and digital publication. Your report will appear on the MPR News website, the Capitol View newsletter and on social media.

Benefits:

Eligible to accrue sick time off.
Eligible for health insurance as required under the ACA.
Eligible to participate in the APMG retirement plan.

Programming:

Participate in robust on-boarding experience.
Professional development: on-the-job training, workforce readiness training, formal performance review feedback sessions, etc.
Participate in brown bag sessions to gain broader perspective of the organization.

Required Qualifications:

Completed bachelor's degree or at least two years relevant professional work experience in journalism or communications.
Additionally, minimum two years’ experience in journalism or communications.
Life experiences which will help diversify the pool of talent in public radio (for example, extensive overseas experience, fluency in more than one language, overcoming difficult personal or family circumstances, extensive knowledge of at least one community of color, significant community service, successful careers in other fields).
Strong writing, research, and communication skills.
Passion for telling distinctive stories and amplifying community voices.
Awareness of current events.
Demonstrated dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Self-motivation, resourcefulness, curiosity, creativity, accuracy.
Proven ability to work efficiently and meet deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience using audio production or editing equipment.
Basic knowledge of issues important to Minnesota.
Knowledge of HTML and working in a content-management system.

Next Step in the Application:

In addition to your skills and knowledge, we want to get to know you in the application process. Please include a cover letter (of no more than 1 page) with answers to the following:

What interests you about this fellowship?
What professional skills would you like to add to your toolbox in the months and years to come to grow in your career field?

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

Must be able to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
Physical Demands:
Required to move about in an office environment and sit for extended periods of time.
Required to move about in the community.
Frequent use of hands for data entry/keystrokes and simple grasping.
Working Conditions:
Moderate noise level.
Occasional exposure to prevalent weather conditions.