PolitiFact/Poynter seek freelance researchers

PolitiFact is seeking freelance researchers to help us moderate viral videos as part of our fact-checking relationship with TikTok.

• Deliverable: Research the claims made in videos and determine whether they are true, false or somewhere in between, based on PolitiFact’s published content and other authoritative sources. You’ll share your research findings with TikTok and provide links to authoritative sources to support your rating decision.

The work helps TikTok make decisions about what types of videos they choose to promote on their social platform, and it helps our team choose what claims to pursue as full fact-checks.

Pay is a minimum of $30 per hour for an initial contract through March 15, 2024. PolitiFact is seeking researchers who can work a minimum of 20 hours per week. This contract is extendable based upon available funding.

This is not a role to write published stories. Applicants should have a journalism background,  be naturally inquisitive and know how to use the internet to hunt out the truth.

PolitiFact is America’s largest political fact-checking organization and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Our team is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and we have an office in Washington, D.C.

If you think you’re a good fit for this contract, send us your resume and a short note as to how you could help this project to ic1@poynter.org. Please indicate in your note how many hours each week you are able to commit to this work.

No phone calls, please. 

Deadline to apply: Nov. 29, 2023

Contract starts as soon as possible. You can work from anywhere in the U.S.