Reporter - Disinformation & Extremism

Company Overview

Military Times, a Sightline Media Group brand, covers how operational, personnel and readiness decisions are made and what it means to troops across the globe. Our readers are decision-makers at the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and at military bases throughout the world. At Sightline, the beat reporters are the core of the organization. They break stories, provide indispensable scoops, write best-of-class enterprise stories and develop plugged-in sources who help readers understand what drives military policy and acquisition.

Position Overview

Military Times is partnering with Military Veterans in Journalism on a project to combat the spread of disinformation and extremism in veteran and military communities. Your role will be to cover disinformation and related extremism in these communities, including but not limited to white supremacy, anti-democratic extremism, domestic terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism, and related propaganda on an individual and group level. The reporting will also cover governmental and non-governmental responses to these issues. You will work with an investigative journalist on this team who will conduct more in-depth coverage. 

We have an immediate opening for a beat reporter in this program. This beat reporter will primarily be responsible for producing the day-to-day coverage on the disinformation and extremism beat. 

This job requires: 

• A thorough interest in and understanding of the military, or an aptitude to learn it quickly.
• A thorough interest in tracking and reporting on extremist movements and disinformation campaigns. 
• Digesting and reporting military data and trends. Training on best practices for tracking extremist actors specifically will be provided as part of this program.
• Communicating closely with an editor and the team’s other reporters to make sure Military Times is covering this beat effectively.
• The flexibility to juggle reporting and writing daily, weekly and monthly news and enterprise stories, both for print and online. 
• Developing a deep network of sources on this beat. 
• Routinely filing freedom of information (FOIA) requests when agencies and the military won’t cough up the goods.
• Crafting stories to include profiles and explainers.
• Potentially appearing on camera to discuss your work.

Our ideal candidate has at least 1-3 years of relevant journalism experience and:.  

• Proactive beat reporting experience and a proven track record of finding scoops.  
• An obsession with objective journalism, both in the newsroom and in your public image, and a history of producing balanced and fair news stories. 
• Strong knowledge of and adherence to Associated Press style.  
• The ability to get stubborn sources to call you back, open up and then call back again.
• A professional, positive and energetic attitude that can garner respect from service members and media professionals alike.
• Creativity and a contemporary approach to storytelling across digital and print platforms.

Training on best practices for tracking extremist actors will be provided as part of this program. The position will last 18 months, with a possibility (though no guarantee) that it will be extended. We prefer that this person be based in the Washington, D.C., area. 

We don’t want a stenographer or a reactive reporter. We want someone who is thinking about what’s next, looks past buzzwords, won’t be easily led and thinks hard about the consequences of every decision. The story of the day might not be a good fit for our readers, while an overlooked story might be very consequential.

Sometimes the job requires parsing the nitty-gritty of defense legislation or combing through budget books. We sweat details. Our editors value accuracy, clarity and a good story.

Military veterans are highly encouraged to apply.

About Sightline

Sightline is the leading news organization covering military, defense, C4ISR and cyber defense. Its publications include Defense News, Military Times, Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times, Air Force Times, C4ISRNET, and Federal Times.

About Military Veterans in Journalism

Military Veterans in Journalism is a professional association that builds community for vets, supports their career growth, and advocates for diversifying newsrooms through hiring and promoting more vets. Led and run by a dedicated corps of military veterans and military family members, we are working with newsrooms and other non-profit organizations to create opportunities for vets to get a jump start in the media industry. Whether through internships, fellowships or mentorships, our work has created a pipeline to get vets into newsrooms.