Between a pandemic, climate change, and advances in technology that continue to reshape almost every way of life, the past year has been a bellwether for work in the US. At WIRED, we believe some of the people best situated to cover this rapid evolution—from growing pains to genius pivots and everything in between—are the people who know those industries from the inside. That’s why we’re launching a new program called the WIRED Resilience Residency. Geared toward professionals whose own careers have been upended by these forces, the Resilience Residency offers a unique opportunity for non-journalists to report powerful stories from their changing fields and start new conversations about the future.
Over six months, beginning in June, residents will collaborate with WIRED’s award-winning editorial team on ambitious storytelling projects about their industries. An artist could report on how performers are reinventing theater, dance, and live music. An urban planner could explore how cities are actually changing as a result of the pandemic. These projects can take many forms, including written features, photo essays, data visualizations, podcasts, videos, social media experiments, and beyond. WIRED will publish residents’ work on its channels throughout the course of the program. In the process, residents will become well versed in WIRED’s reporting and editorial standards, receive feedback on their work, and work with experienced members of our staff.
Our aim is for everyone—residents, WIRED employees, and our audience—to benefit from the exchange of expertise, perspectives, and experiences. To that end, we invite and encourage candidates from underrepresented communities, as well as from industries that don’t regularly appear in our pages. WIRED is a publication about change, and we want our coverage to reflect the full diversity of transformation that is happening across the country.
Call for Submissions
The deadline to submit materials for the WIRED Resilience Residency is 11:59 pm PST on May 16, 2021. Materials submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
Interested candidates will need to provide:
- A cover letter of up to 500 words introducing yourself and explaining your interest in WIRED and the residency program
- A résumé or CV
- Contact information for at least two professional references, including their name, affiliation, and email
- A project proposal of up to 800 words describing how you plan to cover your industry over the six-month residency at WIRED. The proposal does not need to pitch specific stories in detail, but it should give us a good sense of the issues you want to focus on within your field and how you would execute your storytelling. Some questions to guide you: How is technology or the pandemic reshaping your industry, and how does that impact people? What changes are you most excited about? What changes most worry you? Whose stories or perspectives about these issues do you not see in the media right now, and how would you incorporate them into your work? How can WIRED’s resources support this?
Candidates also have the option to include work samples, via links or PDFs, that demonstrate skills or experiences relevant to the proposal. This could include examples of published writing or research, portfolios of creative work, service projects in your community, public speaking engagements, and so on. Such samples are not required in your submission materials, but to the extent that they help us evaluate your ability to successfully complete the proposed project, they are recommended.
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