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Editor

Employer
Full Fact
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£50,000-65,000
Closing date
1 Mar 2021

View more

Industry
Journalist
Job Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time
Sector
Charity, Digital, News, Politics
Discipline
Editor

Job Details

The UK’s independent non-partisan fact checking charity is recruiting an Editor to lead our award-winning fact checking team. Your work will reach millions online and even more through our media partners and appearances.

It’s a unique opportunity to do important accountability journalism where quality and impact are as important as deadlines and clicks.

You’ll be responsible for what we cover, how well we cover it, and making sure we do our editorial work in a timely and effective way.

That means running a team of seven staff journalists, and from time to time secondees from organisations like the Medical Research Council, the UK Statistics Authority, or the House of Commons Library, supported by our Deputy Editor. You’ll be hands on with the content, giving clear direction to the team, and helping them develop professionally too.

Above all you will make sure that our analysis meets the highest standards of accuracy—fact checkers have to be right. You need to be precise but not pedantic, and sure-footed when navigating competing research, data, or arguments. You’ll need good judgement on sensitive topics, an understanding of how information spreads online, and, although there is much more to life than data, you must have strong numeracy and confidence in handling statistics.

In addition to the core fact checking product, we publish regular features to explore themes in our work and engage our audience. You’ll be able to work with the editorial team in identifying these themes and spot the stories that matter.

Full Fact’s work has impact. We have obtained corrections from a Prime Minister and other senior politicians, newspapers, and broadcasters. We have seen government departments and national media outlets change how they work in response to our fact checking. We’ve worked with the BBC, ITV, and Sky. Our fact checking is incorporated into Google Search, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and we are offering a WhatsApp pilot service. Our impact starts from high-quality fact checking on topics that matter.

As a member of Full Fact’s management team, you will have a particular responsibility for nurturing the supportive and ambitious environment we aim for, and for the overall direction of the charity.

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. We are happy to talk flexible working, and we are open to part time or job share applications for this role.

What we offer

  • Starting salary of £50–65,000 (plus pension) depending on experience.
  • 25 days holiday plus bank holidays. We also close the office for a period between Christmas and New Year.
  • Comfortable and attractive office by St James Park with very good transport links, although we are currently all working remotely.
  • Employee Assistance Programme.

 

To apply

Please submit a CV and a covering letter to the CEO, Will Moy.

Before applying please read the requirements we place on staff to protect Full Fact’s independence and non-partisanship. https://fullfact.org/about/jobs/#standards. We recognise  that candidates for this job may well have been involved in public campaigning before.

We prefer to sift applications anonymously. Please use your initials rather than your name and leave identifying details such as email addresses off your CV and covering letter, including the file names.

Fact checking is what Full Fact is best known for but our work doesn’t end there. If you’d like to learn a little more, read our joint statement with Africa Check and Chequeado: Fact checking doesn’t work (the way you think it does).

Deadline 10am Monday 1st March

Job description

You’re responsible for what we cover, how well we cover it, and making sure we do our editorial work in a timely and effective way—meeting the highest standards of accuracy and fairness at all times.

You run the editorial team and are responsible for the wellbeing, management, and development of its members.

As a member of Full Fact’s management team, you have a responsibility for the charity as a whole, including planning and budget, delivery of our plans, staff welfare, and key strategic policies and decisions.

Outcomes

  • Demonstrably maintain the highest standards of accuracy and fairness in our monitoring and across all of our output.
  • Run a programme of fact checking that scrutinises the claims of politicians and journalists, and helps limit the spread of harmful misinformation online
  • Develop and evaluate a regular features product
  • Ensure that fact checking links with our comms, tech, and policy efforts
  • Ensure that fact checking services we provide for paying clients are delivered efficiently and to agreed standards
  • Ensure that feedback is handled properly and that the editorial team is engaged with our audiences and supporters.
  • Contribute to developing and documenting standards, systems and best practices for our public-facing work, supported by a system of training.
  • Within six months, agree your own learning and development plan

What we are looking for from you

Political impartiality and sensitivity

  • You act with integrity and you’re happy to commit to Full Fact’s ethos and the seven principles of public life
  • You are committed to the political neutrality of our work and have a good understanding of impartiality (please see the rules on our website https://fullfact.org/about/jobs/)
  • Strong understanding of public debate in the UK and sensitivity to the political context we work in
  • You understand that part of Full Fact’s work is being a watchdog, that it can attract hostile attention, and how to manage these risks and support your team while standing firm for our principles 

Analysis skills

  • Proven understanding of at least one area of public debate, or at least one relevant discipline such as law, statistics, or economics
  • Ability to recognise how much detail is too much, and to address the human question or bigger picture behind a technical point
  • Strong analytical and research skills with a keen eye for detail
  • Strong numeracy and confidence understanding data

Communication skills

  • Enthusiasm for and proven experience of telling factual stories in interesting, compelling and fair ways
  • Interest in and eye for excellent writing, and excellence in other media
  • Track record of communicating with a non-specialist audience in any format
  • Understanding of digital audiences, channels, and formats

Management skills and approach

  • You can run a team that’s effective and happy (even if this is your first management job)
  • Commitment to recognising and developing people’s talent
  • Understanding of planning and budgeting (we use Objectives and Key Results at Full Fact, but you do not need experience of this)
  • Understanding of the value of open, inclusive, and diverse teams and proven commitment to building a team where people feel empowered and valued
  • Contributing to the management team with a high level of mutual support and accountability

Company

Full Fact is the UK’s independent factchecking charity.

We provide free tools, information and advice so that anyone 
can check the claims we hear from politicians and the media.

WE ARE

Independent


We are a registered charity. We actively seek a diverse range of funding and are transparent about all our sources of income.

Impartial

We don't take sides in any debate and don't support any political party or campaign. We've been quoted by politicians on all sides and corrected people on all sides. We have a cross-party Board of Trustees and safeguards in place at every level of our organisation to ensure our neutrality.

Effective

Factchecks alone are not enough to halt the spread of misinformation. We push for corrections where necessary, and work with government departments and research institutions to improve the quality and communication of information at source. We also provide a factchecking toolkit to give people the tools they need to make up their own minds.

Company info
Website
Location
2 Carlton Gardens
London
SW1Y 5AA
GB

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