Updated on February 26, 2020
Rent Responsibly is looking for college students enrolled in an accredited journalism school for paid feature writing opportunities for our Humans of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) series. This series spotlights STR hosts, managers and others with human interest stories. See examples here and here.
The Gig
On an ongoing basis, Rent Responsibly will identify Humans of STRs feature subjects along with a story peg. Some of these will be assigned to specific writers, and others will be first-come-first-served. (Students are also welcome to pitch their story ideas to Rent Responsibly at any time.)
Rent Responsibly will work with student writers to get all of their work published on RentResponsibly.org and/or pitched to third-party publications.
Assignments: Students will be expected to schedule and conduct a phone or video interview (usually 1 hour or less) with the subject, conduct background research, and write and proof a feature article around 800 words in length. Specific deadlines will be communicated with each assignment and will generally be 1-2 weeks (depending on writer and subject availability.)
Pay: $80 – $120/article | $25 kill fee | Bonuses available on select articles for successfully getting them placed in third-party publications.
Multiple writer positions are available. The work is project-based, flexible and remote. The volume of story assignments will vary week to week, and students may opt to take on as many as they would like provided they can consistently meet deadlines and deliver high-quality work.
Qualifications
Requirements:
- Must be enrolled in an accredited journalism program
- Must have experience writing news or feature articles with subject interviews and solid research, at a minimum through an introductory reporting class
- Must have excellent written communication skills and professional, timely response to Rent Responsibly and story subjects
- Must be self-directed, responsive to email and phone communications, and able to work remotely
Bonus points for:
- Having taken a feature writing course
- Having taken a political and/or public affairs reporting course
- Having an article published in a non-school publication
To Apply:
Send an email to Alexa Nota, Head of Advocacy, at alexa@rentresponsibly.org with:
- A sample pitch letter attached
- A sample article attached or a link to a published article
All applicants will receive a response. Selected candidates will be asked to conduct a 30-minute interview.
