Posted On: March 6, 2018

Media-Related Job

Media Organization: Sunlight Foundation

Company Description

Through monitoring changes to federal websites​, it’s possible to understand how public access to public Web resources is changing and, in turn, register shifts in the government’s stated policies and priorities. Documenting and reporting on these changes allows the public to hold our government accountable for how it presents information, as well as enabling analyses of how changes affect the public and important government functions, like notice-and-comment
rulemaking.

The Web Integrity Project​ (WIP) is beginning this work as a new effort within the Sunlight Foundation. We are furthering Sunlight’s mission of demanding accountability and transparency from the federal government through improved digital and data governance. To do so, we’re
building on our founders’ past efforts at the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) and expanding beyond documenting changes to environment, climate, and energy federal websites. Our work is separate from, but complementary to, EDGI’s work, focusing on topics such as health and healthcare, civil rights, immigration, criminal justice, and others.

Job Description

Core roles and responsibilities:
1. Using our software to monitor key websites on a regular basis
2. Writing and vetting reports based on investigations of important identified changes
3. Helping maintain a website change tracker
There will also be opportunities for further analysis and investigation, which might include:
1. Researching and scoping agency websites for monitoring
2. Writing blog posts that provide context for particularly significant changes
3. Analyzing how changes to Web resources impact the public's capacity to benefit from or
understand governance and engage in democratic processes, like notice-and-comment
rulemaking

Experience, skills, and qualifications:
● Experience in research or investigative work
● Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
● Good written and verbal communication skills
● Comfort learning and using new software
● Detail-oriented
● Ability and willingness to work independently
● Proven ability to work as a member of a team
● Ability to take initiative to explore monitoring leads and additional topics for focus

To Apply

Send the following to Rachel Bergman (webintegrity@sunlightfoundation.com):
1. Resume
2. Cover letter that includes at least a paragraph addressing the prompt: Discuss a
situation in which you used new methodology that you hadn’t in the past to write a story
or conduct an analysis (for example, use of a Freedom of Information Act request, new
data analysis method, new programming tool, etc.)
3. Writing sample(s) (include at least one sample for which you are the single author, but
feel free to include additional samples for which you are one of multiple authors)
4. List of 2 references with contact information