Climate Change and Press Freedom Fellow

CPJ’s Global Advocacy team is seeking a Climate Change and Press Freedom Fellow to engage in rigorous research and analysis work that can inform the organization’s strategy to address how the climate crisis is impacting media freedom and individual journalists’ ability to report freely and safely. The position is a fixed one for 12 months and reports to the Chief Global Affairs Officer.

Across the world, environmental journalists pursue stories on corporate interests, organized crime networks, political corruption, and human rights violations. In response to this new reality, the Committee to Protect Journalists launched its Climate Crisis Journalist Protection Initiative to ensure that journalists reporting on climate issues are able to do so freely and safely. The Climate Change and Press Freedom Fellowship is a crucial program to power this work. The Fellow will play a vital role in defining CPJ’s agenda on advocacy and safety responses to the threats and reprisals faced by journalists.

Key Responsibilities 

The Fellow’s duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Develop and execute original research and policy analysis to assess the nexus between climate change issues and media freedom and identify the most salient areas that would benefit from advocacy and safety interventions.
• Conduct a landscape analysis anchored in a cross-regional assessment of CPJ’s 30+ years of data on journalists threatened due to their work on climate related stories as well as other existing research; develop a set of recommended approaches for CPJ.
• Conduct a global survey with local environmental journalists in key communities in order to document and classify threats they face, including digital ones, and their safety needs; identify thru-lines to areas with high levels of corruption and the presence of industries or non-state actors or other salient issues that may benefit from structural responses.
• Identify potential partnerships or opportunities for CPJ advocacy and engagement on climate change and press freedom issues.
• Convene roundtables and regional meetings with civil society, local newsrooms, journalists, and support networks to explore advocacy and/or protective strategies.
• Draft/produce public materials; help to organize and support events (public or private) to advance CPJ’s positioning on climate change related issues.
• Contribute to CPJ’s knowledge base and capacity building in the area of climate change and press freedom.

Eligibility

The candidate should:

• Have a deep, demonstrated interest in and knowledge of press freedom, journalism and climate change; familiarity with corruption, corporate accountability mechanisms and local reporting dynamics is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience working on climate change/environmental issues.
  Critical thinker with exceptional research and writing; meticulous attention to accuracy and detail.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams, including with remote management and staff across time zones.
• Fluency in English and, ideally, another language such as Spanish or French.
• Be proficient in Google Workspace

This position is classified as remote or hybrid-optional. Global, remote candidates should be based within 6 hours of US Eastern time in order to work collaboratively and attend virtual meetings with staff working in the US Eastern time zone.

How to apply 

To submit applications, please use this application form. the last date to submit applications is April 12, 2026. 

For more information, please visit this page.