Each role below has a written brief: what you'd do, the rough time commitment, what we look for, and how to apply. Read the one that fits and email us per the apply note. If nothing fits but you want to help, jump to the general volunteer interest form at the bottom.
Fact-checker
Verify claims, sources, and quotes in articles before publication. Read the piece line by line, flag anything that lacks a primary source, and write up findings the editor can act on.
Responsibilities
- Read each assigned piece line by line and flag every factual claim that needs sourcing.
- Track each claim back to a primary source — official records, peer-reviewed studies, on-the-record interviews, etc.
- Note attribution gaps, paraphrase / quote drift, and chronology errors in a fact-check memo.
- Hand the memo back to the writer + editor with clear severity (must-fix vs. nice-to-tighten).
- Re-check after revisions before the piece publishes.
What we look for
- Comfortable reading at speed and resisting confirmation bias on subjects you have priors on.
- Familiarity with at least one of: government records, court filings, academic databases, FOIA workflows.
- Willing to say 'this claim cannot be sourced' to a writer you respect.
- Bonus: a beat (climate, regulation, religion, tech, etc.) where you can move faster than the editor.
How to apply
Email a one-page note about your background and which beat you'd want to fact-check first. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Copy editor
Tighten prose, catch typos, enforce house style. The piece has been through a substantive edit; you're the last set of eyes before it ships.
Responsibilities
- Read each assigned piece for grammar, punctuation, agreement, and consistency.
- Flag tonal lapses (ad copy creep, jargon overload, hedge-stacking) without rewriting voice.
- Apply our house style: AP-derived with our overrides for serial commas, em-dash spacing, numerals, and Latin abbreviations.
- Check headlines, deks, captions, and pull-quotes — these are where late errors usually hide.
- Suggest cuts when a paragraph could be tighter; the writer decides.
What we look for
- Demonstrable copy-editing experience or the equivalent obsessive reading habit.
- Comfortable with Markdown and Git (or willing to learn — we'll pair-edit you through the first three).
- Patience for serial-comma debates.
How to apply
Email a sample of a piece you've copy-edited, before and after. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Researcher
Pull background for active reporting. The writer pitches a question; you come back with the documents, dataset, prior coverage, or contact list that makes the piece possible.
Responsibilities
- Take a written research question from a writer or editor and produce a structured findings packet within an agreed window.
- File records requests when needed (FOIA, state-level public records, court PACER, etc.).
- Build a small bibliography of prior coverage and academic work on the topic.
- Surface sources and contacts the writer might not know about.
- Hand off cleanly so the writer can pick up without re-doing your work.
What we look for
- Library, journalism, legal, or academic research background.
- Comfortable with at least two of: government records portals, academic databases (JSTOR, etc.), FOIA workflow, archives, dataset cleanup.
- Willing to scope your own work and stop when the answer is 'this question can't be answered with public sources'.
How to apply
Email a one-page sample of a research memo, redacted as needed. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Translator
Translate selected articles into other languages so coverage of regulation, religion, and institutional power isn't trapped in English. Translations publish under the author's byline plus a translator credit.
Responsibilities
- Translate full articles from English into your target language, preserving voice and cadence rather than producing literal word-for-word.
- Flag idioms and culture-specific references that need translator notes.
- Coordinate with a second native speaker for sensitive pieces (politics, religion, legal exposure).
- Add a brief translator's note at the end of any piece that required adaptation choices worth surfacing.
What we look for
- Native or near-native fluency in target language; fluent in English.
- A piece of published translation we can read, even informal.
- Bonus: subject-matter familiarity in one of our coverage areas.
How to apply
Email naming your target language(s) and including one translation sample (any genre). Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Events coordinator
Plan and run reader events — talks, panels, in-person meetups. We don't yet have a formal events programme; you'd help build one.
Responsibilities
- Propose 1–2 events per quarter (topic, format, target audience).
- Coordinate venue, scheduling, RSVPs, and any speaker logistics.
- Wire the events into the site's events calendar and into the newsletter.
- Handle live moderation or hand off cleanly to whoever is moderating.
- Write a brief post-event note for the publication's archive.
What we look for
- Has run at least one public-facing event before, even informally.
- Comfortable being the person who confirms the venue, sends the reminders, and answers the day-of-questions.
- If hybrid: based in or able to travel to a major US metro.
How to apply
Email pitching the first event you'd want to run. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Community moderator
Read the comment thread, the webmention inbox, and the tip line. Surface what deserves an editorial response, hide what doesn't, escalate harassment.
Responsibilities
- Triage daily / weekly comment + webmention activity. Approve, hide, or flag.
- Apply the community guidelines fairly and consistently.
- Surface comments worth responding to or promoting into a Letters piece.
- Escalate harassment, doxxing attempts, or coordinated review-bombing to the editor.
- Maintain the blocklist when it grows.
What we look for
- Calm under provocation. Public-internet veteran.
- Read the community guidelines and agreed with the substance.
- No active fights with subjects of our coverage; conflicts of interest disqualify.
How to apply
Email describing your prior moderation experience and one ambiguous comment thread you'd handle and why. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
Developer / open-source contributor
Help build the publication's underlying static-site stack — Project Broadsheet on GitHub. Issues, PRs, code review, design system work.
Responsibilities
- Pick up open issues on Project Broadsheet (the engine that runs this site).
- Submit PRs with tests and clear commit messages.
- Review other contributors' PRs.
- Improve docs as you go — every change to the engine becomes part of the public Project Broadsheet docs.
What we look for
- Familiar with Eleventy, Nunjucks, plain CSS, or willing to come up to speed.
- Public GitHub history we can read.
- Bonus: accessibility work, performance work, or design-system experience.
How to apply
Open a PR or an issue on the Project Broadsheet repo with your name on it; we'll find you. Send to hello@thefreethinkingtimes.com with the role name in the subject line.
General volunteer interest
Want to help but don't see the right slot above? Tell us what you'd want to do and what time you have. We read every note. If we have something that fits, we'll write back; if we don't, we'll say so cleanly.