STAFF WRITER: SRI LANKA

THIS POSITION IS CLOSED AND NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Founded in 1999, Mongabay is a leading conservation news website. The site today draws more than 2 million visitors per month, making it among the most visited eco-focused destinations on the Internet. 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.

Mongabay is excited to announce the opening of a staff writer position based in Sri Lanka to report on conservation and environmental issues from the area.

WHAT DOES THE WRITER DO?

The full-time staff writer will have knowledge and familiarity with conservation and environmental issues in Sri Lanka to produce multiple stories per week. The staff writer will work closely with the Mongabay-India team, and with members of the larger Mongabay team to discuss ideas and plans. The staff writer’s main reporting responsibility would be to cover high priority regions and topics, developing and curating Sri Lanka – specific content for Mongabay.

The writer must have strong analytical skills and the ability to discern what stories are important and of interest to readers, especially to a Sri Lankan audience. This person must be a native English-speaker (or have exceptional fluency), based in Sri Lanka and excel at working remotely.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

WRITING, REPORTING, EDITING, PUBLISHING (90% of time)

  • Working with Mongabay-India’s Senior Contributing Editor to produce news reports and features, consistently of high quality
  • Effectively search and come up with story ideas
  • Writing, editing and posting stories via Mongabay-India’s content management system (WordPress)
  • Copy editing/proofreading as and when required
  • Conducting interviews, phone calls and/or meetings to gather information for stories
  • Sourcing and/or producing visual content including photos, videos, charts, and maps
  • Occasional aggregation of news from third-party sources
  • Cultivating sources, in the mould of a beat reporter

STRATEGIC PLANNING & ADMINISTRATION (10% of time)

  • Reporting to Mongabay’s Global Program Director and the India Programme Manager on progress toward meeting objectives
  • Working with the Mongabay-India Programme Manager to demonstrate the wider impacts of our reporting in Sri Lanka and the continued need for funding of these important topics
  • Collect data on impacts of Sri Lanka stories including examples of republication for use in grant reports
  • Providing other support as needed to ensure content meets Mongabay’s high standards of professionalism, consistency, authenticity, and reliability

DESIRED SKILLS

Being Mongabay’s correspondent from Sri Lanka, the staff writer should excel at working independently, and produce consistent high quality work by taking initiative and thinking creatively about solutions to problems.

  • Sound editorial judgment and decision making ability
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
  • Effective time management skills
  • Experience with publishing systems
  • Professionalism and reliability
  • Ability to adjust approaches according to feedback
  • Contributes to the team effort by following through on tasks and delivering results
  • Possess a working understanding of the scientific method and its application in environmental science
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality

EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

  • Four or more years experience and demonstrated talent in journalism/writing, preferably in the environment / conservation beat is required
  • An understanding of best practice of content use on the Internet (e.g. respecting copyright, responding to “take down” requests)
  • Knowledge and familiarity with environmental issues and wildlife conservation in Sri Lanka is essential
  • Ability to copy-edit environmental stories
  • Professional experience within Sri Lankan media outlets is preferred
  • Be open to traveling toward filing original news stories
  • Be comfortable reading scientific literature, such as reports and papers
  • Ability to fact check stories with contacts/science publications
  • Must be responsive to Mongabay-India and Mongabay.com headquarters via email and Asana
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Office, WordPress (or similar), Google Drive, Social Media (Twitter and Facebook), and Asana.

This is a work from home position but the candidate should be based in Sri Lanka and have good internet connection.

 

TO APPLY

The deadline has passed and we are no longer accepting applications. Applications accepted on a rolling basis. On the application, you will be asked to fill out basic contact information, pay rate expectations, reference information (2), and to upload the following documents:

  1. Cover letter – please provide specific examples of your experience related to this position, as well as specific examples of your ability to work effectively from home and meet deadlines (1-2 pages)
  2. Resume – (1-2 pages)
  3. Two references

Applications must be submitted in English. Please note that you do not need to provide letters of recommendation and we will not reach out to references before getting your permission to do so.