Earned Media & Storytelling Associate

A major Chicago mayoral campaign is hiring an Earned Media & Storytelling Associate to help driveour daily communications operation.We are looking for someone who is hungry, fast, technically capable, visually creative, andcomfortable working like a reporter and producer.This is a full-time, in-person position in Chicago.You will help identify stories, research issues, develop facts, create compelling visual and writtenmaterial, monitor the news, and conduct the outreach necessary to get stories in front of reporters,producers, editors, neighborhood outlets, podcasts, radio, television, and digital media.This position reports directly to the campaign’s Communications Director, a veteran broadcaster withmore than 25 years of on-camera experience, including serving as lead anchor at a major CBSaffiliate.What You’ll Do• Identify daily and weekly earned-media opportunities• Research Chicago issues using public records, government databases, news archives, reports,social media, and other sources• Turn research into strong story concepts, visual ideas, and media opportunities• Develop concise research memos, timelines, fact sheets, graphics, charts, maps, and othersupporting materials• Help create visual storytelling concepts for video, social media, press events, and reporteroutreach• Pitch reporters, producers, editors, radio hosts, podcast producers, and neighborhood outlets• Build and maintain media lists and professional relationships with journalists• Follow up persistently and professionally on story pitches• Monitor breaking news, City Hall, public agencies, neighborhoods, and other developments• Help prepare press releases, advisories, briefing materials, social content, and story pitches• Find smaller and medium-sized stories that can generate consistent coverage between majorcampaign moments• Track coverage, outreach, contacts, and results• Use technology and AI tools intelligently to accelerate research, monitoring, visualization,organization, and content developmentWho We’re Looking ForYou may come from journalism, film, video, communications, digital media, research, design, data, oranother field.What matters is how you think and how you work.You should be:• A strong and curious researcher• A clear and concise writer• A visual thinker who understands that the best way to tell a story is not always through words• Technically proficient and quick to learn new tools• Comfortable with video, graphics, social platforms, data, or digital storytelling• Highly organized and detail-oriented• Persistent and comfortable reaching out directly to reporters and producers• Able to recognize what makes a story interesting and relevant• Comfortable handling large amounts of information under deadline• Resourceful and able to solve problems independently• Willing to work hard and take ownership of assignmentsExperience with journalism, student media, video production, photography, graphic design, publicrecords, research databases, social media research, data visualization, AI tools, digital publishing, orcontent production can all be relevant.The Kind of Person Who Will Succeed HereYou see something happening and immediately want to understand the story behind it.You want to know what happened, what the evidence shows, who is affected, what the visual is, andwhat will make someone pay attention.Sometimes the answer will be a television story. Sometimes it will be a newspaper article, radiosegment, podcast, short video, chart, photograph, neighborhood event, or visual that makes acomplicated issue easy to understand.You are also willing to pick up the phone.This job is about finding stories, developing them, packaging them, and doing the outreach necessaryto get them seen.Why This Role Is DifferentYou will work directly inside a fast-moving communications operation and closely with an experiencedtelevision journalist and communications professional.You will learn how stories are discovered, researched, framed, visually developed, pitched, produced,and ultimately covered.You will also be given real responsibility early.For someone at the beginning of their career who wants to become exceptional at research,storytelling, media, and communications, this is an opportunity to learn quickly while doingsubstantive work every day.Compensation$4,500–$5,500 per month, depending on experience.This position is full-time and requires working in person in Chicago.How to ApplySubmit your résumé and links or examples of work you are proud of.That work can include video, photography, writing, design, research, social content, datavisualization, student media, documentary work, or another project that demonstrates how you thinkand tell stories.