Staff Writer

We are no longer looking for applications for this position. Thank you to all applicants.

Bolts is a new digital publication that covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change. We are focused on two areas where local governments play an outsized role: criminal justice and voting rights. We report on the places, people, and politics that shape public policy but are dangerously overlooked. We tell stories about local elections and obscure institutions, and the movements targeting them, that highlight their real world stakes and conflicts. We also publish resources that make it easier to follow the chaos of local politics nationwide.

We are hiring a staff writer to work with our editor-in-chief, managing editor, and story editor to write clear, incisive, and engaging stories that fit, enrich, and grow Bolts’s coverage. 

Responsibilities:

• The staff writer will be expected to produce short news articles that add context and analysis to current events, longer features that explore the stakes of local political conflicts or elections, as well as longer investigative projects that shed light on the consequences of public officials’ discretion and abuses of power. 
• The staff writer should also expect to collaborate with colleagues inside and outside the Bolts newsroom. This may include working with writers at other publications on joint projects. It may also include assisting in social media and newsletter management alongside other Bolts staffers.

Qualifications:

• The ideal candidate will have a history of in-depth reporting and clear, incisive, and engaging writing on politics, criminal justice, and/or voting rights. 
• They should be comfortable experimenting with different formats for coverage (e.g. reporting, newsletters, election trackers, storytelling events, charts and infographics). 
• They should be organized, responsive, and comfortable in a collaborative work environment.
• Preferred qualifications include experience filing public records requests and working with databases.
• Enthusiasm for political journalism, and for coverage that connects political movements and nationwide stakes to local weeds and granular decision makers. 
• Broad interest in left politics and progressive policy, social movements, criminal justice, and voting rights.

Bolts is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We encourage journalists from underrepresented communities to apply and welcome qualified applicants of all races, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system. We also acknowledge that some strong candidates won’t have all the qualifications listed here and want to encourage people with a diversity of experience to apply, even if they might not fit the description as written.

This position is full-time and remote. The salary range is $70,000-80,000. Benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, life insurance, an automatic 4% employer contribution to a 401K plan, and 14 weeks of paid family leave. 

Please contact jobs@boltsmag.org with any questions about the position or publication.

To apply, please send your resume, cover letter, clips of or links to three stories you have written, and a list of references to jobs@boltsmag.org. Please specify the position you are applying for.

The job posting remains open as long as the posting is up. (Bolts is also hiring a story editor; see here.)