OSINT Fellow

About us

Lighthouse Reports is an award-winning investigative nonprofit working with Europe's leading media. We build diverse teams to tackle investigations into the biggest issues of our time from climate and migration, to conflict and corruption. Lighthouse pioneers collaborative journalism with a team that includes data scientists, money trails reporters and open source investigators. Our investigations have been published by over 100 media partners in multiple formats, from television and documentary to news and radio, podcasts, print and online.

About the fellowship

Our fellowship program will immerse you in the process of building collaborative investigations. Over six months you will receive support to develop your investigative skills and contribute to active investigations with our network of global media partners, working across Lighthouse’s data, OSINT, impact and editorial teams. This is an opportunity to learn about how collaborations really work and be part of the investigative process from story conception to publication. We are also recruiting for two other fellows to join our reporting and data teams. You can read more about those roles here:

The practicalities

• This is a part-time fellowship requiring 2.5 days per week, lasting for 6 months. 
• We offer a stipend of 1,100 euros per month. 
• We are a distributed team and you can be based anywhere in the world with a good internet connection. Fellows must provide their own laptop.

Who should apply?

If you have less than five years of professional experience, are passionate about new approaches to investigative journalism, and are committed to the hard work of cross-border collaboration, we would be interested to hear from you. 

You don’t need to have a journalism degree or be a published journalist. Many of our team did not start out in journalism. We are always looking for fresh thinking and don’t care if your background is in data science, finance, architecture or philosophy. You just need to demonstrate your understanding of and commitment to the principles of investigative journalism.

We want our team to be as representative as possible of the stories and issues that we cover.  If you have experiences and perspectives that are systematically underrepresented in global investigative journalism, we would especially welcome your application.  

There are some specific requirements for the OSINT fellow – you can read more about those below. But don’t worry if you don’t meet every one of these criteria or are not sure which of the three fellowships to apply for, just go ahead with whichever seems the best fit. 

We do require fluent English, which despite our global footprint, is the working language of the team. 

What to expect

• Mentorship from Lighthouse Reports’ journalists
• A co-created professional development plan
• Internal trainings on investigations and collaborative journalism
• Full participation in the team, including joining in-person events where possible

The application process

• Apply by April 8
• Interviews the week of April 15
• Start date mid-May 

Requirements

• Prior experience contributing to online open source investigations
• Demonstrated knowledge of visual verification techniques 
• Understanding of information collection across various social media platforms 
• Curiosity and investigative mindset
• Collaborative approach
• Self-starter with experience of remote work
• Experience of working in multicultural teams with people from diverse backgrounds
• Fluent spoken and written English