Zoe Barnes, the Walter Cronkite for the millennial generation?
Rare Magazine, a subsidiary of Cox Media, is looking to hire a new political reporter, and it's seeking a candidate that resembles everyone's favorite — and infamously unethical! — journalist, as performed by Kate Mara, from Netflix's House of Cards.
"You should be less Paula Zahn, more Zoe Barnes," the job listing says.
We're not sure if the hiring managers for the site have seen Zoe Barnes in action.
Spoiler alert for all of those haven't spent your summer binge-ing the political drama: Barnes works for a fictional D.C. paper as a general metropolitan reporter, until she attracts the attention of the scheming politico Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey. Underwood starts an affair with her in exchange for story tips, and she works her way up to White House correspondent. She then uncovers Underwood's wheeling and dealing, and he pushes her in front on a train.
A career role model for young journalists, indeed.
Rare — which calls itself "America's newsfeed" — is clearly aimed at a younger generation, and brings a biting tone to its work. Its site is full of pop culture references, right down to its call for pitch submissions: "You have 99 problems, but a pitch ain’t one."
It's clear from the rest of the job posting that the magazine, which didn't immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment, is irreverently looking for a reporter who can get insider sources and write buzzy stories that dig below the surface. A Zoe Barnes-lite, if you will.
"The right candidate is an intrepid reporter who knows the way around Capitol Hill but may know a thing or two about the underbelly of our political process," the listing says. "This journalist has no left-right agenda and is beholden only to good juicy stories that will be of interest to our readers inside AND outside the Beltway. This person must be self-motivated, self-directed and thrive on digging up extra information and being first to break a story. Strong writing and social media savvy are a must."
Still, real life journalists on Twitter aren't having it:
Job post seeks "less Paula Zahn, more Zoe Barnes" b/c reporters should strive to be more like an offensive depiction http://t.co/2Qrqmqffxr— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) August 24, 2015
Sleep with sources and publish everything they tell you without checking it? That Zoe Barnes? https://t.co/CpNBHIK13o— Taylor Dobbs (@taylordobbs) August 24, 2015
Zoe Barnes never did anything questionable to get a story, right? https://t.co/y9s2Wd5XWU— R.L. Bynum (@RL_Bynum) August 24, 2015
Be more Zoe Barnes #LeanIn— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 24, 2015
"Less Paula Zahn, more Zoe Barnes." Shove this Cox job posting in front of a train. https://t.co/UVtwhnOZbs— Elliott Blackburn (@eblkbrn) August 24, 2015