Job Description
A major Chicago mayoral campaign is hiring an Earned Media & Storytelling Associate to help drive
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our daily communications operation.
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We are looking for someone who is hungry, fast, technically capable, visually creative, and
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comfortable working like a reporter and producer.
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This is a full-time, in-person position in Chicago.
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You will help identify stories, research issues, develop facts, create compelling visual and written
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material, monitor the news, and conduct the outreach necessary to get stories in front of reporters,
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producers, editors, neighborhood outlets, podcasts, radio, television, and digital media.
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This position reports directly to the campaign’s Communications Director, a veteran broadcaster with
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more than 25 years of on-camera experience, including serving as lead anchor at a major CBS
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affiliate.
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What You’ll Do
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• Identify daily and weekly earned-media opportunities
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• Research Chicago issues using public records, government databases, news archives, reports,
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social media, and other sources
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• Turn research into strong story concepts, visual ideas, and media opportunities
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• Develop concise research memos, timelines, fact sheets, graphics, charts, maps, and other
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supporting materials
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• Help create visual storytelling concepts for video, social media, press events, and reporter
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outreach
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• Pitch reporters, producers, editors, radio hosts, podcast producers, and neighborhood outlets
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• Build and maintain media lists and professional relationships with journalists
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• Follow up persistently and professionally on story pitches
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• Monitor breaking news, City Hall, public agencies, neighborhoods, and other developments
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• Help prepare press releases, advisories, briefing materials, social content, and story pitches
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• Find smaller and medium-sized stories that can generate consistent coverage between major
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campaign moments
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• Track coverage, outreach, contacts, and results
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• Use technology and AI tools intelligently to accelerate research, monitoring, visualization,
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organization, and content developmentWho We’re Looking For
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You may come from journalism, film, video, communications, digital media, research, design, data, or
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another field.
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What matters is how you think and how you work.
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You should be:
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• A strong and curious researcher
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• A clear and concise writer
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• A visual thinker who understands that the best way to tell a story is not always through words
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• Technically proficient and quick to learn new tools
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• Comfortable with video, graphics, social platforms, data, or digital storytelling
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• Highly organized and detail-oriented
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• Persistent and comfortable reaching out directly to reporters and producers
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• Able to recognize what makes a story interesting and relevant
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• Comfortable handling large amounts of information under deadline
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• Resourceful and able to solve problems independently
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• Willing to work hard and take ownership of assignments
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Experience with journalism, student media, video production, photography, graphic design, public
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records, research databases, social media research, data visualization, AI tools, digital publishing, or
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content production can all be relevant.
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The Kind of Person Who Will Succeed Here
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You see something happening and immediately want to understand the story behind it.
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You want to know what happened, what the evidence shows, who is affected, what the visual is, and
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what will make someone pay attention.
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Sometimes the answer will be a television story. Sometimes it will be a newspaper article, radio
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segment, podcast, short video, chart, photograph, neighborhood event, or visual that makes a
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complicated issue easy to understand.
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You are also willing to pick up the phone.
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This job is about finding stories, developing them, packaging them, and doing the outreach necessary
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to get them seen.
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Why This Role Is Different
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You will work directly inside a fast-moving communications operation and closely with an experienced
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television journalist and communications professional.You will learn how stories are discovered, researched, framed, visually developed, pitched, produced,
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and ultimately covered.
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You will also be given real responsibility early.
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For someone at the beginning of their career who wants to become exceptional at research,
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storytelling, media, and communications, this is an opportunity to learn quickly while doing
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substantive work every day.
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Compensation
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$4,500–$5,500 per month, depending on experience.
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This position is full-time and requires working in person in Chicago.
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How to Apply
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Submit your résumé and links or examples of work you are proud of.
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That work can include video, photography, writing, design, research, social content, data
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visualization, student media, documentary work, or another project that demonstrates how you think
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and tell stories.