Writers! We need YOU

The Post is scouting for new writing

For almost a year, we’ve been sending out regular stories to an ever-growing list of readers, and today, we’re sending out our first call for new writers and interns to join The Post.

It’s been a jampacked year for us: last October, Harry Shukman’s investigation into anti-vaccine activists using sinister tactics to target Merseyside schools was picked up by national newspapers like The Guardian. Then in March, Mollie and Joshi’s essay ‘Bored of publishing clickbait, the Liverpool Echo moves to crush its competition’ about the Echo’s attempt to wipe us off the map triggered a massive response. Over 100 subscribers joined us to support independent journalism over clickbait, and as a result of that support, we were able to hire Jack Walton, who previously interned with us for seven months and has written our most popular piece ‘Why are companies leaving Liverpool?’, as well as commission more excellent stories from our regular contributor, David Lloyd (who you might remember from ‘If cruising is the answer for Liverpool, what was the question?’).

A smiley Jack Walton, who began working with us as an intern before his smarts, underhand tactics and ruthless attitude towards any rivals meant he rocketed up the ladder at the Post. Photo: Dani Cole.

We’re already thinking about our next hire, which we hope to make next year. In the meantime, we are taking our next big step towards assembling a high-quality team of freelance writers and interns (and let’s not be coy: we’re hoping to find our next hire in that pool). 

We want people with a passion for beautifully-crafted writing, investigative reporting and hard-hitting news who want to bring about a renaissance in journalism on Merseyside. If you’re incredibly witty and have a strong authorial voice, that’s great too. You might be a professional who has worked in journalism for 30 years, a freelance cultural critic or someone who is just starting out. Either way, if you have some experience and think you can offer something fresh, we’d love to hear from you.

What would working for us look like? It would involve:

• Carrying out research for our investigations and features and finding news items for our Monday newsletters.

• Writing compelling long-form stories which tell us what’s really going on in people’s lives and capture a reader’s imagination. These can be 700 words or over 2,000 words.

• Helping us grow The Post by posting on social media, networking at events and talking to our community of members to understand our readers better.

Writer Mollie Simpson, hard at work. This could be your picturesque life, too. Photo: Dani Cole.

Getting down to brass tacks: We pay £150 for features, but this fee can be higher for bigger investigative projects that take weeks to report. For interns, we’re offering a £30 weekly stipend to pay expenses. The intern role will be one day a week, and would suit a student or graduate best.

We don’t have an office at this stage, meaning most of your writing or interning will be done remotely — but we would love you to join us at our ideas meetings at our favourite New Brighton pub and occasional writing sessions at Root Coffee on Hanover Street. You definitely won’t be grabbing us coffee or doing admin — you’ll be an integral part of a very small team who want to do things differently and make lasting changes to local journalism in this country.

If you think you’re a good fit, please email editor@livpost.co.uk ASAP. We are looking to commission some stories over the next few weeks — whether that’s culture writing, essays, reviews, a news feature or an investigation you want to sink your teeth into over the next weeks — so get in touch. We want three links to stories you’ve written — these can be links to blogs or posts — and three ideas that you think would work on The Post. If you’re unsure what we’re after, please read a wide variety of stories on The Post before pitching — that’s the best way to understand the kind of journalism we want. Equally, we welcome new ideas about what we can do better to serve readers.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!