Job Title
Health Policy Journalist

Salary
£36,000 - £41,000 per annum

Location
Remote first with an office available in Central London and regular team meetings in the office

Reporting to
Health Editor

Employment Type
Permanent
We are happy to talk about flexible working.

Application Closing Date
03/01/2022

Introduction to the role

Full Fact, the UK’s independent fact checking organisation, is recruiting a health policy fact checker to be part of a brand-new team tackling health misinformation. If you have expertise in health policy, and an interest in communicating with the public, this is a unique chance to do ground-breaking work when it couldn’t matter more.

Focusing on health policy misinformation, you’ll be researching and writing fact checks, explainers and features, and will learn how to identify and expose patterns in misinformation. You’ll also use your expertise to help the wider Full Fact team - for example informing our policy and communications work - and will help build our links with organisations and experts who can reduce the harm that bad health information does.

Full Fact fights bad information. Our team of independent fact checkers, technologists and campaigners works to find, expose and counter it. Your work will be seen by millions and help tackle the harm caused by misleading information.

If you are interested in applying but not sure you have all the skills, please do apply. We are open both to supporting learning on the job and to rearranging tasks within the team to suit the skillsets of the best applicant.

Job Definition

You’ll be a specialist fact checker working as a key part of Full Fact’s new health programme, a dedicated part of our editorial team which we’re establishing in 2023 to fight bad health information. You’ll be responsible for spotting, exposing and tackling bad information, writing a number of fact checks each week, and will also be expected to write features and other content as required.

We’re ideally looking for candidates with some journalism experience, but will consider candidates from other backgrounds and prior fact checking experience isn’t necessary. We do want someone with significant pre-existing knowledge of health policy - either working as a specialist journalist or in some other professional capacity.

You will need to be able to quickly master and explain tricky, nuanced topics in clear, concise and impartial copy - and must have an eye for a story.

Outcomes:

• Regularly monitor media organisations, social media, public figures and politicians for health policy misinformation
• Pitch fact checks and features based on a good understanding of the health policy landscape and Full Fact’s aims
• Produce accurate, engaging and publication-ready copy to combat the spread of bad information
• Working with colleagues, hit weekly and monthly publication targets
• Develop contacts, subject knowledge and expertise across the health policy landscape
• Work with other teams within Full Fact, such as policy and communications, to ensure we have a good overview of the health misinformation landscape
• Build links with other organisations and experts who can help reduce the harm that bad health information does
• Help Full Fact’s work fact checking for change, liaising closely with our interventions team to ensure we are able to tackle the root causes of misinformation

What we are looking for from you

Political impartiality and sensitivity:

You are committed to the political neutrality of our work and have a good understanding of impartiality (please see the rules on our website).

Understanding of public debate in the UK and sensitivity to the political context we work in.

• Strong research and writing skills. Journalism experience is an advantage but not essential
• Good understanding of public debate in the UK and sensitivity to the political context Full Fact works in
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of health policy
• An ability to understand and master new topics rapidly
• Ability to build on pre-existing knowledge of health policy topics, for example by developing contacts
• Understanding of digital channels, audiences and formats
• An understanding of what it takes to meet the highest standards of accuracy and balance
• Communication skills, and a track record of communicating with a non-specialist audience in any format
• An understanding of Full Fact’s style and principles
• Ideally experience of identifying and correcting misleading claims in public debate
• Ideally experience using the Freedom of Information Act

What we offer

• Starting salary of £36,000 - £41,000 depending on experience.
• Workplace Pension
• Generous holidays
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• In addition, we close the office for a period between Christmas and New Year.
• Day off for moving home.
• Comfortable, centrally located London office with good transport links.
• Employee Assistance Programme.

How to apply

Upload your CV and cover letter using the link below by 10am on 3 January 2023.

We prefer to sift applications anonymously. Please use your initials rather than your name and leave identifying details such as email addresses off your CV and covering letter.

Please note that to keep our recruitment process open and fair, we will not negotiate salaries outside the advertised range.

Before applying, please read the requirements we place on staff to protect Full Fact’s independence and non-partisanship https://fullfact.org/get-involved/jobs/#standards 

We want to see you at your best to understand your strengths and the contribution you could make at Full Fact with strong support, including for your learning and development. We also want to make sure that we use your time well during this process and don’t ask for more from you than we need to. We will make any reasonable adjustments we need to make to this process to help ensure you can perform at your best. For more information about this before applying, please contact jobs@fullfact.org.

The interview panel will be Steve Nowottny (Editor), Will Moy (Chief Executive) and Claire Milne (Health Editor).

The process starts off with an anonymised covering letter and CV. This will be read by at least two people to produce a shortlist for interview.

The first round interviews will be a phone (not video) interview, lasting no more than half an hour, at a time that’s convenient for you. We will record it so at least two people can review each interview to decide who we invite back for the second round. The recordings will be deleted at the end of the process.

The second round will include a structured interview and a timed task which assumes no prior knowledge. The task can be completed prior to the interview, at a time that most suits you.

The interview will be with the full panel by video and last no more than an hour. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to prepare, including anything we’d recommend reading in advance.