The Center for Public Integrity is launching a nationwide investigation into indicators of statehouse corruption, and it’s looking for 50 freelancers to help get it done.
The State Integrity Investigation, conducted first in 2011, is a deep-dive look at factors that cause corruption in each of America’s 50 capitols, Nicholas Kusnetz, the initiative’s project manager, told Poynter in an email.
The last project resulted in more than 1,100 stories and led to reform measures passed in seven states, according to the the Center for Public Integrity. It was a 2013 finalist for Harvard’s Goldsmith Investigative Reporting Prize.
Participants will work part-time starting in fall and through early 2016 and will be expected to answer 200-300 questions using data during the first two months of the project. Pay is $7,000.
Here’s the full job description:
The Center for Public Integrity is looking for top-notch journalists to investigate the risk of corruption in their state governments. We’re hiring one reporter in each state to carry out a combination of research and reporting into state government ethics, transparency and accountability laws, and their enforcement. Your work will lead to nationally-distributed stories and state-by-state rankings of government accountability, complete with scorecards, grades and stories that demonstrate where states succeed and where they fail.
The State Integrity Investigation will rely on original, in-depth reporting and detailed data collection in each state to uncover areas of corruption risk in our statehouses. The project will cover a wide range of “integrity indicators,” including campaign finance laws, state budget processes, auditing capabilities, procurement practices, financial disclosure and more. Each reporter will gather data through a combination of research and interviews and then write an accompanying narrative on the findings in that state. Examples of state scorecards, categories and stories from our initial State Integrity Investigation in 2012 can be found at www.stateintegrity.org.
Reporters will have to answer some 200-300 questions with specific, well-sourced data over the first two months of work. Reporters will work with partner organization Global Integrity to register and verify their research. They will be expected to meet rigorous standards for accuracy and sourcing based on methodology developed by Global Integrity. Reporters must be well-versed in the laws, procedures, and inner workings of their state government, and ideally maintain an extensive network of contacts and sources both in and outside of state government.
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