Who We Are
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering the U.S. criminal justice system.
We were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 and 2021. We have also been honored with the Goldsmith Prize, multiple National Magazine Awards, and an award for General Excellence from the Online Journalism Awards. We are not advocates — we follow the facts and do not pander to any audience — but we have a declared mission: to create and sustain a sense of urgency about the criminal justice system.
We do not generally cover breaking news, although we curate the reporting of other news outlets in our morning newsletter. Our work includes investigative and explanatory projects and shorter pieces aimed at highlighting stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To ensure our work reaches a larger audience, we partner with other media outlets; we have worked with more than 200 newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online sites.
The Marshall Project is looking for a staff writer with a track record of delivering impactful investigative reporting and experience covering immigration.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Cover the immigration system and its intersection with the criminal justice system in the U.S., including in-the-moment analyses and short- and long-term investigations that hold the powerful accountable and delineate systemic problems.
- Develop a wide range of sources — within federal immigration agencies, advocacy groups, and the families of people who are detained or deported — to inform coverage, allowing The Marshall Project to stay ahead of and explain major developments and produce novel high-impact investigations.
- Generate story ideas that have national resonance and potential impact.
- Ability to speak to people with a range of perspectives and experiences across the immigration and criminal justice systems and convey how these systems affect people and communities.
- Use of data and public-records requests to find and report out stories.
- Use of social media, particularly short-form videos, to aid storytelling.
- Commitment to collaboration, across the newsroom and with our publishing partners at other organizations.
Preferred Skills and Experiences:
- Track record of conceiving and executing major investigative and explanatory projects, with deep reporting, original insight and narrative grace. While we do not specify years of experience, this role is intended for seasoned reporters with demonstrated records of impact and ambitious stories.
- Ability to juggle and meet deadlines on both long- and short-term projects.
- Experience covering the immigration system and people impacted by immigration policy and enforcement.
- Source-building prowess.
- Openness to different forms of storytelling and other forms of journalistic experimentation. Seek alternatives to text narrative as you report — including visual, audio, video, and engagement journalism.
- Spanish language skills, conversational-level or above, are strongly desired.
- Ability to write clearly, translate jargon, and use narrative and other techniques to make readers care.
- Interest in pursuing opportunities to deepen investigative skills and toolkit.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
- Contribute to audience engagement and promotion through headline writing, social media, media requests, appearances, and live events.
Who You’d Be Working With
You will report to a senior editor seasoned in editing investigative projects. You’ll also meet regularly with a group of reporters and editors who specialize in investigative projects.
Compensation and Benefits
This job is full-time, with a competitive salary and benefits including: 100% employer-paid medical, employer-subsidized vision and dental insurance; matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting). Voluntary benefits include: Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, employee and dependent life insurance, AFLAC accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage, legal benefits, personal excess liability insurance, and employee discount marketplace. We also observe 17 days of paid time off each year (in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2), and provide paid parental leave.
Annual Salary Range: $105,000 to $115,000
We are headquartered in New York City, and although this position is fully remote, applicants must reside in the United States and possess the necessary authorization to work here. Remote work outside the U.S. is not allowed under any circumstances.
A cover letter is required. Please submit a cover letter highlighting your relevant experience and briefly describing how you would approach covering immigration in the current context.
We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, ages, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.
We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all these areas, and this is not a complete list of all relevant qualifications applicants might bring to the job. Please tell us about your other assets not mentioned here that may be valuable to this role. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us. If you do not have the exact combination of skills listed here, but are still interested in this role and/or in The Marshall Project, we'd love to hear from you.
Due to the expected volume of applications, we will follow up with the most promising candidates, but we cannot respond individually to all applicants.
