Overview
Staff Writer, Creative Arts/Media Jobs in Birmingham, UK at Mill Media
Come and work with a team that’s changing journalism
Role details
- Location
:
Birmingham/West Midlands (we need someone who lives full-time in the region, or is willing to relocate) - Salary
:
Dependent on experience (circa. £30k-32k), with an opportunity for pay to increase next year - Basis
:
Full-time (including some out-of-hours work) - Office/remote
:
Three days per week in our city centre office - Start date
:
May/June 2026 - Deadline
: 22 March. Scroll down for details on how to apply.
About us
The Dispatch has grown much faster than we expected it to. We started out in October 2023 with the mission of providing top quality journalism in Birmingham, one of this country’s most important cities, and the public has responded with huge support. Since then, we have published major pieces of journalism and built up a community of readers who trust us to tell them what’s really going on.
We already have 25,000 readers on our mailing list and almost 1,700 paying members. We now have an opening for a third staff writer, joining our star team of Kate Knowles and Madeleine Rousell.
The success of The Dispatch is based on the simple idea of giving journalists the time they need to produce great stories. Our writers don’t have to churn out multiple stories per day, and that means they can do old fashioned reporting: building sources, finding evidence and giving readers new insights and revelations as a result. We expect our staff writers to be really smart and elegant writers, but also to have the reporting instincts required to get hold of new information.
The Dispatch is part of Mill Media, which since being founded in June 2020, has become a new force in British journalism, publishing high quality local journalism in six UK cities. The company has been described as “one of the most interesting and impressive media startups of the last decade,” by the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, and as “very, very impressive” by the Wall Street Journal’s editor Emma Tucker.
Ourfinancial backersinclude Sir Mark Thompson, the chief executive of CNN and former boss of the New York Times and BBC, who said he was investing because of the “exceptional quality” of our work. In the past year, our stories have led topolitical resignations, questions in parliament and have even prompted apolice investigationinto fraud at a university. The Observerwrote thatwe are “shaking up local news.”
What
we’re looking for
This role requires at least two years of experience in journalism. It’s a job for a journalist who believes in our mission, loves the kind of reporting we do and is passionate about applying our brand of journalism to many more stories in the years ahead. We need someone who has a natural flair for writing — who will deliver the kind of stories our readers look forward to when they open our newsletters.
This role also requires the kind of person who relishes trying to get hold of people on the phone and enjoys chasing stories even if they seem like dead ends; who likes getting to grips with complex issues and can explain those issues clearly to readers.
You will be working closely alongside Kate and Madeleine, including sometimes collaborating on stories, and you will have a lot of contact with the editors and writers from the wider Mill Media team. You will also be expected to pitch in with various non-writing tasks, like helping with our social media and liaising with freelancers.
Crucially, this is a role for someone who likes working really hard. This job isn’t easy and doesn’t always fit into the normal working day. We give some of the most rigorous and intense training and development in British journalism, which means that you will grow very fast by working with us. But we need people who are incredibly committed and energised by the task.
Key
responsibilities
- Producing consistently high-quality writing for The Dispatch that informs and delights our readers and makes us stand out.
- Generating lots of highly original story ideas every month, both for you and for our other staff and freelance writers, ranging from culture to crime, food to local politics.
- Developing exceptional contacts within Birmingham’s political, cultural and business worlds so…
Title: Staff Writer, Creative Arts/Media
Company: Mill Media
Location: Birmingham, UK
Category: