Apply Now: Montana Free Press / ICT Indigenous Montana Legislative Fellowship
Job Title: Montana Free Press / ICT Indigenous Montana Legislative Fellow
Supervisors: Kolby KickingWoman/Brad Tyer
Location: Helena, Montana
Position Type: Full-time, temporary fellowship (January—May 2025)
Department: Digital
Salary: $17/hour ($680/week), a housing stipend of $600 per month, with an additional $1,000 relocation allowance if moving to Helena, and health insurance (medical, vision, dental)
Desired start date is Jan. 2, 2025.
JOB SUMMARY: Montana Free Press, Montana’s premier independent, nonprofit news organization, in partnership with ICT (formerly Indian Country Today), has an immediate opening for an Indigenous Montana Legislative Fellowship in our Helena, Montana, newsroom. The paid fellowship is open to undergraduate or graduate college students and early career journalists who want to develop statehouse and political reporting skills in service of impactful community coverage. Knowledge of Indigenous communities, issues and policies will be considered a plus.
The fellowship is an opportunity to deepen and broaden reporting skills while learning from and collaborating with experienced statehouse journalists and news industry professionals.
WHO YOU ARE: A curious and resourceful journalist or aspiring journalist interested in elevating underreported issues, politics and policy that impact Indigenous communities in Montana.
Read More
The fellow will work with a collaborative team of MTFP and ICT reporters and editors in the state’s capital to report on legislation and legislators that impact tribal communities and build sources within the American Indian Caucus of the Montana Legislature and in Indigenous communities across Montana.
WHO WE ARE: Montana Free Press is a fast-growing, entrepreneurial, nonpartisan, multimedia news organization whose stories are published online and in print and broadcast news outlets statewide. MTFP is supported by more than 4,000 individual members across Montana, and its reporting reaches more than 30,000 newsletter subscribers six days a week. ICT is a nonprofit, multimedia news enterprise owned by IndiJ Public Media. Our digital platform covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians and Alaska Natives. ICT is also a public media broadcast carried via public television stations, including FNX: First Nations Experience and Arizona PBS World channel. ICT’s Mountain Bureau is located in the University of Montana’s School of Journalism.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop the beat on Montana legislation and legislators within agencies, tribal nations and local governments.
- Develop sources within the American Indian Caucus of the Montana Legislature, local governments and tribal nations.
- Cover breaking news, spot news, and enterprise stories related to the Montana Legislature in multiple formats (print, newsletters, broadcast, podcast, audio, social media).
- Participate in ICT and MTFP team meetings.
- Work collaboratively with editors and fellow reporters/national correspondents.
- Communicate openly and promptly to share information and ideas with colleagues throughout both organizations.
- Use journalistic and ethical judgment.
- Pay attention to detail and factual accuracy.
- Use background in American Indian and Alaska Native issues, histories, and cultures, and federal Indian policy to provide context in news stories.
- Capture photos and video for the digital and broadcast platform, and social media channels.
- Travel to report stories, as needed.
SALARY AND BENEFITS: This is a full-time, temporary fellowship from the opening until two weeks after the close of the 69th Montana Legislature (roughly January 2 — May 15, 2025) paying $17/hour ($680/week) and includes a housing stipend of $600 per month, and a relocation allowance of $1,000 if moving to Helena for the position. The fellow will also be eligible for health insurance (medical, vision, dental) and will be provided a laptop and cell phone.
Applicants should submit a résumé, cover letter and one letter of professional reference to dianna@ictnews.org with the subject line of "Montana fellowship." Position is open until filled. Desired start date is January 2, 2025.
