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This position has been filled.
Are you a strong reporter who is passionate about nature? Do you love covering stories related to forests, oceans, natural resources and wildlife? Do you enjoy communicating with scientists and conservationists?
Mongabay is seeking a full-time, Indonesia-focused staff writer to be hired on a temporary three-month contract to write near-daily articles in English, respond to breaking news in the world of conservation, cover new research, and produce blog-like summaries of third-party stories as well as original features. The main focus of coverage would be coal, infrastructure, fisheries, oceans, forests, palm oil, land-use and wildlife in Indonesia for our fast-growing nonprofit newsroom. There would be some opportunities to travel and report from the field.
The reporter would ideally be an Indonesian citizen based in the archipelago country. If things go well during the three-month trial period, we hope you’ll join the Mongabay team for the long-term.
JOB DUTIES
- Working with Mongabay’s editors, who are based around the world, to produce reports and features for our English-language site on a near-daily basis. This would involve coming up with story ideas and pitching them to the editors as well as taking assignments from them.
- Translating/adapting articles into English from Mongabay-Indonesia (mongabay.co.id), our Indonesian-language sister site.
- Occasional aggregation of news from third-party sources.
- Cultivating sources, in the mold of a beat reporter.
- Occasional reporting from places like Sumatra, Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia.
- Laying out articles in WordPress.
SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
- Native-level Bahasa Indonesia ability
- Ability to write fluently in English
- Excellent grasp of journalistic storytelling norms
- Ability to learn complex material quickly and clearly communicate it to a general audience
- Strong sense of professionalism and reliability
- Extremely self-directed and motivated
- Ability to adjust approaches according to feedback
- Contributes to the team effort by following through on tasks and delivering results
DESIRED EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS
- Prior experience: One to two years of reporting experience (especially environmental, preferably full-time) strongly preferred, but not required. Experience covering a beat is a plus.
- Location: This is a home-office position.
- Technical experience: Microsoft Office, WordPress (or similar).
PAYMENT & CONTRACT
This reporter will be hired for a three-month contract to start. The pay rate for this contract depends on prior experience. With strong performance, there is potential for this position to lead to a full-time staff role in the future.
TO APPLY
Apply online here. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position has been filled. Applications must be submitted in English. On the application you will be asked to fill out basic contact information, pay rate expectations, reference information (2), and to upload the following two documents:
- Cover letter – please provide specific examples of your experience writing in the realm of environmental journalism, as well as specific examples of your ability to work effectively from home and meet deadlines (1-2 pages).
- Resume – (1-2 pages)
Apply online here
QUESTIONS
If you have any trouble with the online application or logistical questions about applying, please contact Tiffany Roufs at tiffany [at] mongabay [dot] org. Please do not call us or reach out to other Mongabay staff members regarding your application.
ABOUT US
Founded in 1999, Mongabay is a leading conservation news web site. The site today draws more than 2 million visitors per month, making it among the most visited eco-focused destinations on the Internet. In 2008, mongabay.com was designated by Time Magazine as one of the 15 best “green” sites on the Web, while Mongabay Founder Rhett Butler was honored by the Field Museum with The Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation in September 2014. Jane Goodall joined the Mongabay board in October 2014, adding further prominence to the site.
Mongabay.org, the non-profit arm of Mongabay, was formed in 2012 to facilitate the development of new education and journalism initiatives and leverage its existing network, traffic, and reputation. Mongabay.org aims to raise awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems. You can read our daily conservation news stories here.
Once the non-profit was formed in 2012, Mongabay began to expand using a network approach, starting first with an Indonesia-based service that relies on dozens of local correspondents. Since its launch in May 2012, Mongabay-Indonesia has become one of the leading environmental web sites in Indonesia and the dominant place for reporting on the intersection of social and environmental issues. More importantly, the site has become well known in key decision-making and policy sectors, including the palm oil sector, government agencies like USAID and other important civil society groups. The site as even garnered attention at the highest levels of the Indonesian government, including a call out by President Jokowi. Mongabay-Indonesia has published more than 7,000 stories and is experiencing continued growth in readership and social media following, receiving 5.7 million readers in 2016. Mongabay-Indonesia now ranks in the top 3,000 most popular web sites in Indonesia, according to Alexa.