Enterprise Reporting Fellow

Job Description

Henry Beetle Hough Enterprise Fellowship Reporter
 
Who We Are:
The Henry Beetle Hough Fellowship is a new Fellowship in the Vineyard Gazette newsroom and named for our former esteemed owner, editor, and publisher. Henry Beetle Hough was a conservationist, newspaper editor, prolific author, and a champion of celebrating the simple pleasures of community life on Martha’s Vineyard. He and his wife Betty both ran the paper for 48 years, from 1920-1968, and transformed the Gazette into a nationally recognized newspaper.
 
Hough created a publication that exemplified the role of a local newspaper in serving a community and shaping that community. Hough wrote about ways to preserve the Vineyard from overdevelopment, billboards, and high-speed traffic, among other things. He is most known for his land preservation efforts, championing the conservation of land over development. In the late 1950s, the Houghs donated land for conservation and created the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, which today protects more than 3,500 acres of conservation land on the Vineyard. Hough also won a Pulitzer Prize for a history of the American press and served as a juror on the Pulitzer Prize awards committee for years.
 
The award-winning Vineyard Gazette has a 180-year history of reporting on Martha’s Vineyard and is rooted in a longstanding commitment to rigorous, independent journalism and high-quality photography and design. Published weekly, the black and white broadsheet is printed in the Gazette offices in Edgartown. Our ungated website, vineyardgazette.com, reaches millions of readers around the world. We pride ourselves on producing unbiased, truthful, and consequential stories that impact the lives of Islanders, summer residents, and visitors. While our focus is local, many of the issues we cover resonate nationally.
 
Martha’s Vineyard has a year-round population of approximately 20,000 people. In the summer, the population balloons to over 100,000 as visitors and summer residents come to enjoy the beaches, live music, thought-provoking panel discussions, Grand Illumination Night, the MV Book Festival, renowned religious orators, and the African American Film Festival, to name a few of the major events.
 
The Vineyard Gazette is part of the Vineyard Gazette Media Group, which produces six other publications. Martha’s Vineyard magazine is published six times a year, combining first-rate journalism with superb photography. The Vine is a color supplement to the newspaper highlighting individuals and businesses that make the Vineyard unique. Island Weddings is published twice a year and features inspiration for planning and orchestrating a Vineyard wedding. The Island Guide offers insider tips for visitors to the Vineyard. The Real Estate Review summarizes the year in real estate. Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard is a handy pocket-sized guide to the Island. The Vineyard Gazette also produces frequent newsletters for a dedicated subscriber base. These publications are reinforced with live events on the Vineyard produced by the Vineyard Gazette Media Group such as the annual Best of the Vineyard awards ceremony, the Vineyard Forum – a symposium on critical issues – and a wedding conference. 
 
The opportunity:
Martha’s Vineyard is a microcosm of many of the challenges facing our society such as climate change, immigration growth and stability, income inequality, and affordable housing. This Fellowship offers an opportunity to cover nationally important issues that begin or resonate at a local, grass-roots level. We are seeking a seasoned, curious, and ambitious journalist with a passion for telling stories that matter. As the Fellow, you will produce high-impact, in-depth, and context-rich articles that explain why issues matter on Martha’s Vineyard but resonate beyond. You will be responsible for originating, researching, and writing enterprise stories, investigative journalism, and long-form features for both our print and digital platforms. As a member of the community, you will also cover local politics, issues, and news. Because the Gazette is a teaching newsroom, you will also play an important mentoring role.
 
Responsibilities:
●               Develop and produce signature enterprise-level stories, investigative stories and features about Martha’s Vineyard that resonate locally and potentially nationally.
●               Write stories that explain and push forward conversations on a variety of Island issues and how they relate to national and global issues.
●               Cultivate relationships with sources, gather and analyze data, and file public records requests to support in-depth reporting.
●               Cover local town politics and events as assigned.
●               Serve as a mentor to early-stage journalists in the newsroom.
●               Other duties as assigned.
 

Job Requirements

Qualifications:
●               Minimum of three years of professional experience as a reporter.
●               Excellent skills in news writing and reporting, combining superior news judgment, evocative writing, and excellent storytelling.
●               Proven digital newsgathering fluency, including the ability to create or collaborate to create multi-media components to stories.
●               A track record of exemplary journalism and high ethical standards.
●               Knowledge of and commitment to the company’s mission.
●               Demonstrated mentor qualities.
●               Bachelor's degree required, master’s degree in journalism is a plus.

This position is based full-time on Martha’s Vineyard and comes with housing in a furnished, well-appointed two-bedroom guest house.

Compensation is commensurate with experience and includes health benefits, a 401(k) plan and housing.

The Fellowship requires a minimum of a two-year commitment, with a possible third year. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Occasional travel as well as night and weekend work is expected. Reporters must have a valid driver’s license.
 
To apply, please submit a cover letter (as described below), resume, and five clips to publisher@vineyardgazette.com.
 
Your cover letter must include your connection to or interest in Martha’s Vineyard. It should also include at least one story idea or pitch. Candidates should submit clips that show excellence in evocative writing through high-impact news stories and by highlighting the voices of local communities.
 

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