Work With Us
Opportunities at the Reporters Committee include full-time positions, legal and policy fellowships, internships, and other openings as they are available. Please note application and deadline requirements for each position.
The Reporters Committee offers comprehensive benefits packages for full-time employees, including 18 weeks of paid parental leave and up to 24 weeks of leave after one year of service through our Child Leave Policy.
The Reporters Committee is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce, and we strongly encourage women, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color, people of all ages, and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.
RCFP is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind: RCFP is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at RCFP are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, age, religion or belief, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. RCFP will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.
If you are an attorney with practical experience in our issue areas, and you are looking for pro bono opportunities, please send an email to ProJourn Director Flavie Fuentes, ffuentes -at- rcfp.org. Please include your area of legal expertise, where you are admitted to practice, and whether you are with a firm, a solo practitioner or retired.
Full-Time Positions
Local Legal Initiative Director
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is seeking an attorney with at least 12 years of experience to serve as its Local Legal Initiative (LLI) Director. This position presents a unique opportunity to help oversee a mission-driven legal team working to provide direct legal services to support state and local journalism across the United States. The LLI Director will work closely with and be responsible for assisting the Vice President of Legal Programming in managing the Reporters Committee’s LLI legal portfolio, including developing and implementing LLI program priorities, and overseeing RCFP attorney development, and legal fellowship and summer legal intern hiring.
Experience representing journalists and news organizations in matters involving access to judicial records/proceedings, freedom of information, libel, and other newsgathering and First Amendment matters, is required. View the full job posting and apply.
Staff Attorney
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is partnering with the American Journalism Project to furnish legal services to AJP’s growing national portfolio of nonprofit news organizations. The responsibilities of this Staff Attorney position will include assessing the legal needs of AJP newsrooms, delivering trainings as needed, and providing legal counseling on editorial and non-editorial needs. The objective of this partnership with AJP is twofold: to provide immediate assistance to AJP news organizations and to start building a more robust legal infrastructure for the entire nonprofit journalism sector over the long term. View the full job posting and apply.
Fellowships
Each year, the Reporters Committee welcomes legal fellows to our Washington, D.C., office. They monitor significant developments in media law, assist staff attorneys responding to legal defense requests from reporters, assist staff attorneys in preparing legal memoranda, litigation materials and friend-of-the-court briefs, and handle other special projects. In addition, fellows write content for our website and for other publications. The work is challenging, but rewarding!
Visit our fellowships page for detailed information about each of our opportunities and to apply.
Summer Internships
Some interns may be enrolled in Washington semester study programs through their colleges or universities.
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Legal Internships
The RCFP legal team offers up to three full-time summer internships for current law students (1Ls and 2Ls). Legal interns have the opportunity to work with Reporters Committee attorneys on litigation and amicus-related projects, conduct legal research, and gain hands-on experience addressing a broad range of media law issues. Interns with an interest in emerging issues related to technology, national security, content-based regulations online, and the protection of reporter-source confidentiality will have the opportunity to work with the RCFP Technology and Press Freedom Project team.
Deadline: Applications should be submitted by January 1 for the summer term.
To apply: Submit a resume, cover letter, writing sample (preferably a legal writing sample) and a transcript (transcripts are only required for 2L applicants). A strong background or interest in journalism is preferred. NOTE: Please submit materials in one PDF file. Apply using this SmartRecruiters link.
Communications Internships
The Reporters Committee’s communications team offers full-time summer internships for college students and recent graduates. The Communications Intern will have the opportunity to collaborate with staff across the organization (legal, policy, development and operations) as they support the communications team in raising awareness of and engaging more people with the Reporters Committee’s mission and work.
Interns will write about media law issues for the Reporters Committee’s website, support content creation for our social media channels and monthly newsletter, contribute to ongoing research, and help maintain key resources. Interns will also have opportunities to interact with and learn about free press issues from journalists, media lawyers and policymakers through seminars, court hearings and congressional hearings.
Successful candidates will be detail-oriented, have a strong writing background and be interested in expanding their knowledge about U.S. press freedom and media law issues.
Deadline: Applications should be submitted by March 1 for the summer term.
To apply: Submit a resume, cover letter and writing samples (maximum of 3 clips OR a short research paper if you do not have clips) using this SmartRecruiters link. A strong background in journalism or marketing is preferred. NOTE: Please submit materials in one PDF file.