WoN Editor

Editor, Wealth of Nations – Programmes team, Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique services to drive systemic change.

For more than 35 years, we have promoted the highest standards in journalism by training reporters around the world to cover issues relevant to their local context, accurately and impartially. Today, we work to strengthen local and national journalism, improve media ethics, standards and regulation, combat misinformation, and explore and shape the future of the profession. We do this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via our funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

The Foundation’s Programmes team runs a range of programmes aimed at promoting the highest standards of journalism worldwide. One of our major programmes is Wealth of Nations, which boosts the capacity of African media to report and investigate illicit financial flows and the abuse of tax laws. The programme is funded by Norad and implemented in collaboration with some of Africa’s leading organisations promoting excellence in journalism. More information at www.wealth-of-nations.org.

We are seeking an Editor to provide overall editorial guidance to the programme, and to oversee the mentoring process which assists participants in the production of accurate, rigorous and engaging stories. We wish to engage a consultant on a freelance basis, working an average of four days per month. The expected start date is ASAP until end of December 2022, (possibility for extension into April/May 2023 dependent on funding).

Key responsibilities

• Review story/investigation proposals from participating journalists/newsrooms, providing feedback, and identifying most viable ideas.
• Review applications for training workshops, including applicants’ writing samples and story pitches, to ensure diversity and opportunity for under-represented voices.
• Monitor the progress of stories and investigations and provide advice and guidance to mentors when needed.
• Oversee and mentor investigations produced as part of the alumni story grant scheme (which will support selected Wealth of Nations alumni to produce stories).
• Stay abreast of topics related to illicit financial flows and circulate major developments, story leads and professional development opportunities with the Wealth of Nations network of journalists.
• Identify opportunities for participants to pitch their stories to regional and international news outlets; when a story is of the necessary quality, assist them in the pitching process.
• Providing ad hoc guidance on request from the programme’s team concerning Monitoring & Evaluation, reporting and curriculum matters.
• Where required, coach programme mentors and coordinate editorial meetings with programme partners who implement editorial activities.

Requirements

We are looking for:

• An editor or journalist with at least five years’ experience, including relevant experience in editing, copy-editing, mentoring, coaching, and managing reporters.
• Working experience in an international media outlet is desirable
• Excellent journalistic sense and demonstrable experience in applying the highest standards of reporting, sourcing, and storytelling.
• Knowledge of and experience in reporting on illicit financial flows and financial or investigative journalism, including open sources of information that can be used as part of illicit finance investigations.
• Knowledge of the realities of working as a journalist in one or more African countries.
• Fluent English is a necessity. We strongly prefer at least one other language of Portuguese, Arabic and French.
• Someone with a very good internet connection, ideally based in a time zone no more than 5 hours from CAT. We do not require the work to take place on specific days of the week however the successful candidate can commit to responding to emails within 24 hours.

Personal qualities

• Supportive of and empathetic to programme participants.
• Good communication skills and able to effectively work with remote teams.
• Ability to work well with people from diverse backgrounds – collaboratively, supportively, and respectfully with others.
• Able to plan work efficiently using own initiative.
• Flexibility to adapt to new and sometimes unplanned situations.
• Digitally literate (email, word processing skills etc).

Compensation

A consultancy rate will be agreed for the successful candidate.