Full Fact, the UK’s independent fact checking organisation, is recruiting a journalist to join its news and online team.  If you’re an experienced journalist who cares about tackling bad information, this is an exciting opportunity to join a team focusing on online misinformation and fact checking breaking news, and spearhead our fight against false and misleading claims on social media.

You’ll cover everything from viral misinformation about UK and world events and misleading use of AI images to hoax posts spreading in community Facebook groups. You will have the opportunity to make a measurable difference, learn new skills and have your work seen by millions. You’ll help us monitor online misinformation, research and write fact checks, explainers and features, and identify and expose patterns in misinformation. And your work will play a vital role in ensuring accurate and impartial information is available to the public as we head towards the next general election.

Full Fact fights bad information. Our team of independent fact checkers, technologists and campaigners works to find, expose and counter it.

If you are interested in applying but not sure you have all the skills, please do apply. We are open both to supporting learning on the job and to rearranging tasks within the team to suit the skillsets of the best applicant.

Job Definition

You’ll be one of the fact checkers who are the backbone of our editorial team – working in a team of four focusing on online misinformation and breaking news.

You’ll be responsible for spotting, exposing and tackling bad information, writing a number of fact checks each week, and also writing features and other content as required.

We’re looking for candidates with proven journalism experience and a good understanding of what we do, but prior fact checking experience isn’t necessary. You will need to be able to quickly master and explain tricky, nuanced topics in clear, concise copy – and must have an eye for a story.

Outcomes

• Monitoring for misinformation on social media and elsewhere online, ensuring we can quickly identify the most harmful viral claims
• Pitching fact checks based on a good understanding of the misinformation landscape and Full Fact’s aims
• Producing accurate, engaging and publication-ready copy to combat the spread of bad information, to tight deadlines
• Ensuring we hit agreed output targets, including for Third Party Fact Checking
• Help Full Fact’s work on ‘fact checking for change’, ensuring that as well as publishing fact checks we identify and act upon solvable problems
• Pitching and writing features based on patterns of online misinformation
• Improving our understanding of online misinformation and what can be done to combat its spread
• Engaging with other teams to further the work of Full Fact
• Helping with other ad hoc tasks carried out by the editorial team, such as responding to reader emails and media requests

What we are looking for from you

Political impartiality and sensitivity:

• You are committed to the political neutrality of our work and have a good understanding of impartiality (please see the rules on our website).
• Understanding of public debate in the UK and sensitivity to the political context we work in.

Job skills/competencies:

• Strong research and writing skills. We’re ideally looking for someone with significant journalism experience
• Communication skills, and a track record of communicating with a non-specialist audience
• Ability to hit tight deadlines and respond rapidly to breaking news
• Good understanding of social media and the way in which information and misinformation spreads online
• An understanding of Full Fact’s styles and principles
• An ability to understand and master new topics rapidly
• Understanding of digital channels, audiences and formats

What we offer

• Starting salary of £26,700 – £38,535 per annum depending on experience.
• Workplace Pension
• Generous holidays
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• In addition, we close the office and stop work for a period between Christmas and New Year.
• Day off for moving home.
• Remote-first working and a comfortable, centrally located London office with good transport links.
• Employee Assistance Programme.

How to apply

Apply directly via this link

• Upload your CV and cover letter by 10am on Thursday 21 September 2023.
• Our recruitment platform will remove identifying details such as email addresses to allow us to sift applications anonymously
• Before applying, please read the requirements we place on staff to protect Full Fact’s independence and non-partisanship https://fullfact.org/get-involved/jobs/#standards

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How the application process will work

We want to see you at your best to understand your strengths and the contribution you could make at Full Fact with strong support, including for your learning and development. We also want to make sure that we use your time well during this process and don’t ask for more from you than we need to. We will make any reasonable adjustments we need to make to this process to help ensure you can perform at your best. For more information about this before applying, please contact jobs@fullfact.org.

The interview panel will be Pippa Allen-Kinross (news and online editor), Claire Milne (health editor) and Steve Nowottny (editor).

The process starts off with an anonymised covering letter and CV. This will be read by at least two people to produce a shortlist for interview.

The first round interviews will be a phone (not video) interview, lasting no more than half an hour, at a time that’s convenient for you. We will record it so at least two people can review each interview to decide who we invite back for the second round. The recordings will be deleted at the end of the process.

The second round will include a structured interview and a timed task which assumes no prior knowledge. The task can be completed prior to the interview, at a time that most suits you.

The interview will be with the full panel by video and last no more than an hour. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to prepare, including anything we’d recommend reading in advance.