Are you a Political Reporter with a passion for decoding South Africa’s complex political landscape? Daily Maverick wants to hear from you!
Daily Maverick is a fiercely independent news publication dedicated to fearless journalism and holding power to account. The Political Reporter role is will drive significant political coverage by producing original, compelling, high-impact stories across multiple formats, integrating data insights (such as election trends or public spending), and staying up to date on local, provincial, and national governance.
In this role, you will actively contribute to the development of our junior journalistic talent, while upholding Daily Maverick's core values of truth, accuracy, and transparency in a high-pressure political environment.
- At least 5 years of writing and reporting experience, with a minimum of 2–3 years focused on covering South African politics, governance, or public policy.
- Proven interviewing techniques and specialized information-gathering abilities within political structures, caucuses, and state organs.
- A proven eye for detail and context, with the ability to translate complex political maneuvering or legislative policy into accessible, human-centric narratives.
- Strong adherence to journalistic ethics, including principles of truth, accuracy, transparency, critical thinking, and fierce independence from political factions or corporate influence.
- Proven digital literacy, including familiarity with CMS, Google Work Suite, Slack, and social media/parliamentary monitoring tools for news alerts.
- Demonstrable track record of adhering to deadlines under the pressure of breaking political news, with a commitment to fact-based reporting and a sharp eye for differentiating between political disinformation, spin, and truth.
- Integrity & Critical Thinking: An unwavering commitment to ethical practice and the psychological resilience to critically assess information from politically motivated sources, questioning assumptions and underlying biases.
- Proactiveness & Initiative: A self-starting attitude; actively seeks out political scoops, investigative angles, and innovative ways to present political data across various media formats.
- Adaptability & Problem-Solving: Flexible in adjusting to fluid, fast-moving political environments and skilled in safely finding alternative routes to information when stonewalled by officials.
- Empathy, Respect & Boundary Management: Treats sources, readers, and colleagues respectfully and professionally. Demonstrates high emotional intelligence and emotional regulation when interacting with hostile political actors or handling stressful beats.
- Collaboration & Communication: Effectively works with colleagues across departments (e.g., graphics, multimedia) and communicates clearly, both verbally and in writing, with an emphasis on transparency regarding source credibility with editors.
- Analytical Aptitude: Early exposure to data journalism, with a critical eye for data integrity in political contexts (e.g., budget allocations, election analytics).
- Audience Awareness: Basic understanding and application of audience analytics to understand what political insights resonate most with the Daily Maverick community.
- Professional Alignment: Demonstrable track record of producing versatile, high-quality journalism that exemplifies Daily Maverick's ethical standards and commitment to defending South Africa's democracy.
- Political Reporting & Beat Management: Follows assignment briefs and proactively identifies unique angles with the political/news editor. Researchers widely across government gazettes, court papers, and legislative documents. Identifies key political actors and institutional sources to interview, debriefs editors, and pivots seamlessly when breaking political developments shift the narrative.
- Story Generation: Reads political news websites, social media platforms, parliamentary feeds, and Daily Maverick daily to keep abreast of current affairs. Uses AI to help brainstorm story ideas, map political networks, and plan a unique weekly diary. At least 70% of stories are originally generated, with a focus on breaking exclusive stories and offering deep analytical context rather than just rewriting press releases.
- Political Sourcing & Network Building: Cultivates and maintains a robust, diverse network of political contacts, whistleblowers, and analysts across various parties and state institutions. Safely and ethically manages these relationships to generate unique, impactful investigative or explanatory stories. At least 70% of stories are based on unique information shared by contacts or tip-offs.
- Multi-Story Format: Plans, structures, writes, and produces political stories that are engaging, people-centric (connecting macro-politics to everyday citizens), and have an intended positive impact across text, audio, and video formats. Adapts content to Daily Maverick’s style, ensuring consistent quality and strict adherence to editorial policy.
- Accuracy & Press Code Compliance: Uses AI, grammar, and spell-check tools to ensure all assigned stories follow the SA Press Code. Thoroughly fact-checks political rhetoric and claims against multiple, independent sources. Navigates political spin with high cognitive clarity and consults editors on source validation. Requires 100% accuracy on all stories.
- Integrity & Right of Reply: Ensures a rigorous and fair right of response is offered to politicians, political parties, and state entities subject to critical reporting, carefully documenting all attempts. 100% right of reply given within a reasonable time, anticipating potential legal or public relations pushback.
- Timely Delivery: Submits and uploads stories on the CMS at agreed deadlines (especially critical during live political events or elections). If delays occur, promptly communicates with the editor to optimize production flow. 80% of stories delivered on deadline.
- Skill Development & Mentorship: Actively progresses in core political journalism skills through feedback and learning, particularly regarding constitutional law, public finance tracking, and ethical sourcing. Acts as a peer mentor, sharing best practices on political reporting with junior newsroom talent.
- AI & Social Media: Applies basic principles of AI and social media ethics as outlined in policy, maintaining a professional digital footprint that protects personal and institutional journalistic independence.
- Data-Enriched Political Narratives: Integrates basic data analysis (e.g., polling data, municipal audits, election results) to strengthen and support journalistic narratives, always verifying data sources and avoiding partisan assumptions.
