Here’s a list of current media and journalism fellowship programs, including the deadlines for applying. If we’re missing any major programs, or you would like your program to be in the featured fellowship slot, please contact Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org to let us know, and we’ll add them to the list. All featured fellowships are paid promotional slots.
FEATURED FELLOWSHIP
John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford
Stanford, CA
The Knight Journalism Fellowship is a 10-month-long residency at Stanford University aimed at implementing and improving on innovative ideas in collaboration with a group of journalists from around the world.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2015
Apply now!
NOVEMBER 2015 DEADLINES
ProPublica Reporting Fellowship
We are looking for a reporting fellow to work in our newsroom. The fellowship is a minimum of 16 weeks and can last for up to a year. We’re ready for you to start as soon as you’re available. It’s full-time, based in New York, and compensation is $700 per week. Fellows primarily report their own stories —like this one — but also collaborate with ProPublica’s reporters on big projects. We’re looking for somebody who has done reporting, and loves doing it.
Fall Deadline: No deadline set, apply ASAP
Margins Fellowship 2016
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is now accepting applications for The Margins Fellowship, a special opportunity for emerging NYC-based Asian American creative writers to carve our a publishing home in The Margins, the AAWW’s online magazine of arts and ideas, and develop as a writer. Three writers of fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction based in New York City aged 30 and under will receive $5,000, residency time at the Millay Colony for the Arts, mentorship, access to the AAWW writing space, exclusive career lunches and workshops and publication opportunities in our online magazine, The Margins. This fellowship is perfect for an energetic young writer looking to get their start, tired of sending out SASEs and submissions, and eager to have a space to write in a literary community.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 9, 2015
Open City Project Grants 2016
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is now accepting applications for Open City Project Grants, a unique opportunity for emerging Asian American writers to publish narrative nonfiction over the span of six months on the vibrant immigrant communities of New York City. In 2016, Open City will offer a $2,500 grant, skill-building workshops, and publishing opportunities to six writers to write on the vibrant Asian immigrant communities of New York City. Three grantees will be selected for the first six-month period, from January to June 2016. We will be accepting applications for the July-December grant period in April 2016. We are especially looking for neighborhood-based projects in spaces such as Sunset Park in Brooklyn, Manhattan’s Chinatown, Flushing, Jackson Heights, and Richmond Hill in Queens, and other growing Asian immigrant communities across NYC.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 9, 2015
News21 Fellowship
During the summer, fellows work full time out of a digital newsroom at the Cronkite School for 10 weeks, typically beginning in mid to late May and ending in late July or early August. Fellows receive a $7,500 stipend plus travel expenses. The cost of housing is not covered, but the Cronkite School will make arrangements for university dormitory housing on ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus next to the Cronkite building.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 10, 2015
David Carr Fellowship
David Carr, who died in February, was the media columnist for The New York Times and one of the most important voices in journalism. The first David Carr Fellow will spend two years in The Times’s newsroom covering the intersection of technology, media and culture. The focus of the fellow’s work could be steady, sustained news stories; magazine-style features; investigative efforts; videography; or a mix of approaches, depending on the interests of the fellow and the recommendation of Times editors. The fellowship is an opportunity for a journalist early in his or her career to build upon David’s commitment to holding power accountable and telling engaging, deeply reported stories. Candidates should have at least three years of experience and be eager to experiment with creative ways of storytelling through video, text, social media and other means.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 14, 2015…EXTENDED TO DEC 1st!
A Digital Path to Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Latin America
This 18-month, multi-phase program is for 28 Latin American professional fellows from Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and 10 of their U.S. counterparts. The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and its selected partner organizations in each country will recruit professional and citizen journalists, media business managers, digital entrepreneurs and technologists to create media business models that harness the power of digital tools to generate sustainable new revenue. Applicants must be fluent in English.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
Texas Tribune News App Fellowship
Are you a journalism student or would-be reporter in another major? Know a little bit about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and/or Python/Django and would like to continue to hone your skills? Are you passionate about politics, policy and open government? You should join us. You’ll work directly with news apps developers, reporters and editors in the newsroom. Fellows are first-class citizens on our team — in the past, they’ve had the opportunity to not only contribute to high-profile projects but to take the lead on them. You’ll get to create data visualizations and maps, participate in an active and friendly newsroom, play a role in editorial meetings and contribute to a number of different beats. We’re looking for someone passionate about web standards and the little details. Someone willing to show their work. Someone looking to learn. If you’re interested, send your resume and links to previous projects and/or your GitHub account to [email protected].
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
Texas Tribune Reporting Fellowship
The Texas Tribune fellowship program provides aspiring journalists the opportunity to hone their reporting skills and learn a host of new ones that will prepare them for the 21st century newsroom. We expect fellows who are anxious to dive into daily news coverage alongside our seasoned reporting staff. Fellows at the Tribune write stories and blog posts, shoot photos and video, develop news apps and assist with our major data projects. Work by fellows has appeared in The Washington Post through our partnership with that newspaper. To apply, please send us your resume, a one-page letter describing what you’d like to accomplish as a fellow at the Tribune and up to five of your very best writing/work samples. Please email your application materials to [email protected]. If you have any questions about the fellowship program, contact the Tribune’s news editor, Corrie MacLaggan, at [email protected].
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
Texas Tribune Photo Editing Fellowships
The Texas Tribune’s photo editing fellowship is ideal for aspiring visual journalists. The position is unpaid, but fellows are frequently hired for paid photography assignments for our site. The photo editing fellow is responsible for selecting, editing, positioning and publishing photos on the Tribune website. The fellow also helps organize and write captions for images in the Tribune’s digital photography library. To apply, send your resume and links to your work to Tribune Creative Director Jacob Villanueva, [email protected].
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
Fund For Environmental Journalism
The Society of Environmental Journalist’s Fund for Environmental Journalism welcomes applications for grants of up to $5,000 to underwrite story projects. In 2015 grant cycles, funding is available for story projects in three categories: 1) open topic, including international; 2) coverage of land-use issues of North America; and 3) coverage of biodiversity conservation and climate-change impacts in North America. For the first time, applicants may also include a stipend in the proposed budget.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism
This non-residency fellowship provides experienced journalists with grants of up to $15,000 to produce deeply reported investigative or enterprise stories on critical topics related to U.S. business and the economy.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 15, 2015
ivoh Restorative Narrative Fellowship
ivoh’s fellowship is an extension of the organization’s work around Restorative Narrative — a genre of stories that show how people and communities are making a meaningful progression from a place of despair to a place of resilience. The fellowship will provide four fellows with a stipend to spend six months telling Restorative Narratives in various communities. The fellowship is open to media practitioners of all kinds — photographers, journalists, gamers, documentary filmmakers, and advertisers. Each fellow will receive a $2,500 stipend to cover costs associated with their work for the fellowship. These costs may include travel, data analysis, research expenses and more. The fellowship is designed to enable fellows to work independently over a six-month period while maintaining their regular work. Fellows, who will work with a story coach during the fellowship, will maintain autonomy throughout the storytelling process and will not be beholden to their story coach or funders.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 16, 2015
Fellowship: Public Service Journalism at the Center for Investigative Reporting
Butler Koshland Fellowships is seeking an emerging leader to serve as a fellow to Robert J. Rosenthal, executive director of The Center for Investigative Reporting. In this capacity, the fellow will help define and fill a new role designed to leverage the full potential of our multiplatform digital innovation through media outreach, distribution partnerships, public engagement and brand management. This is an exceptional opportunity for someone to break new ground at a major nonprofit organization during an especially exciting period of growth and possibility. In addition to being mentored by Rosenthal, the fellow will be under the day-to-day management of Meghann Farnsworth, CIR’s managing director of distribution, operations and engagement, and work closely with other staff throughout the organization.
Fall Deadline: Nov. 23, 2015
WIRED Editorial Fellow, Reporting
These two positions are best suited to college graduates with prior professional reporting and writing experience in at least two of the following four areas: culture, technology, business, science. Humor writing experience is also a plus. The ideal candidate is creative, curious, eager and smart. Responsibilities include pitching story ideas to front-of-the-book section editors, writing items, and assisting editors with research and special projects. Editorial fellows help generate ideas for recurring items such as Q&As, Alphageeks and Cities. They also should expect to pitch and write quick-turnaround pieces for WIRED.com. Administrative duties include transcription, mailing, updating databases, and preparing for section meetings. Additional responsibilities include helping to produce the digital editions of WIRED (web and tablet). Experience with WordPress, Garage Band/ProTools, video editing, podcasting, Google Docs and Excel preferred.
Deadline for Spring 2016 fellowship will be announced in November
WIRED Editorial Fellow, Research
This position is for someone with great reporting skills and a supreme attention to detail — ideally a college graduate with prior fact-checking or professional reporting experience. The primary duty is checking the accuracy of magazine content. In this capacity, the research fellow works closely with senior editors, copy editors, designers, photo editors and writers. This candidate should have demonstrable knowledge of at least two of the following subject areas: culture, technology, science or business. Other responsibilities include Nexis searches and some administrative duties.
Deadline for Spring 2016 fellowship will be announced in November
WIRED Editorial Fellow, Products
This position is best suited to a college graduate with entry-level reporting and writing experience plus a strong interest in consumer electronics, design, and technology. Responsibilities include reviewing products and assisting with editorial production. Fellows also assist with research for features and packages. This is a great opportunity for bylined writing as well as for getting your hands on the latest technology before everyone else does. There are clerical duties as well, such as responding to story and product pitches and ordering products for review. Additional responsibilities include helping to produce the tablet edition of WIRED by compiling ecommerce links and performing other tasks as needed. Experience with WordPress, Garage Band/ProTools, podcasting, Google Docs and Excel preferred. Candidates should be able to lift 50 pounds.
Deadline for Spring 2016 fellowship will be announced in November
DECEMBER 2015 DEADLINES
Nieman-Berkman Fellowship in Journalism Innovation
This non-residency fellowship provides experienced journalists with grants of up to $15,000 to produce deeply reported investigative or enterprise stories on critical topics related to U.S. business and the economy.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2015 (International Journalists); Jan. 31, 201G (U.S. Journalists)
Knight International Journalism Fellowship, Central Asia (Kazakhstan)
The International Center for Journalists seeks outstanding applicants for a one-year Knight Fellowship covering the Central Asia region, based in Kazakhstan. The fellow will work with Kazakh state television networks to improve their reporting, news production and management practices, as well as raising skills in data and digital journalism. The Fellow will also conduct training workshops for journalists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and possibly Uzbekistan. The Fellow may also travel to some or all of those countries for short stints to work with television media there.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2015
Knight International Journalism Fellow, Nigeria
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) seeks outstanding applicants to spearhead its Code for Africa (CfAfrica) data journalism initiative in Nigeria. Applicants should be media or civic technology industry veterans, ideally with experience in managing data journalism teams and building digital news projects that engage audiences. Working as part of a larger pan-African team, the selected Fellow will help teams of CfAfrica data journalists and technologists embedded into partner newsrooms and local CitizenLabs harness data to build compelling journalistic projects, using strong mobile and interactive web components. The goal: to catalyze news media to deliver ongoing, high-quality health and development news that engages audiences and sparks systemic change.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2015
NPR Kroc Fellowship
The NPR Kroc Fellowship identifies and develops a new generation of extraordinary public radio journalists. Over the course of a year, the three Kroc Fellows get rigorous, hands-on training in every aspect of public radio journalism, both on-air and online, including writing, reporting, producing and editing. The Fellowship begins in August and lasts one year. Fellows receive a stipend of more than $40,000 and benefits, including paid vacation. NPR will provide Kroc Fellows with professional guidance and assist in job placement.
Deadline: Dec. 31, 2015
JANUARY 2016 DEADLINES
FASPE Summer Ethics Fellowship in Journalism
FASPE Journalism uses the conduct of reporters and other media professionals during the Holocaust and in Nazi Germany as a launching point for an intensive course of study on contemporary journalism ethics. FASPE is predicated upon the power of place. Fellows visit Auschwitz and other sites in Germany and Poland where they consider how to apply the lessons of history to the ethical challenges of their profession today.
Deadline: Jan. 5, 2016
Hearst Journalism Fellowship
If you have the skills, passion and determination to be a journalist of the future — a trained professional who knows a good story and who has the talent and confidence to tell it in a way that best imparts its relevance and importance to news consumers — the Hearst Fellowship might be perfect for you. This is the premier two-year newspaper fellowship in the country. Our goal is to recruit, train and retain the best of the next generation of journalists — top-notch multi-media professionals with a broad range of skills. The program consists of two 12-month rotations at our top metro papers and websites. Fellows are full-fledged journalists expected to make significant, valuable contributions in a variety of roles and platforms.
Deadline: Jan. 11, 2016
IN PROGRESS OR FUTURE FELLOWSHIPS
Alexia Foundation Grant Program
Various locations
The Alexia Foundation provides grants of $25,000 to students, professionals and women for a serious documentary photographic projects. Deadlines for this year are closed.
Associated Press Global News Internship Program
Various locations
This paid internship program is for students who are aspiring cross-format journalists and will contribute to AP’s text, video, photo and interactive reporting. The application period for the 2015 internship is closed. Questions may be emailed to [email protected].
Bay Area Video Coalition Mediamaker Fellowship
San Francisco, CA
The fellowship selects fellows for a 10-month program that supports project development with professional mentorship in multiplatform and transmedia storytelling through emerging technologies and strategic marketing.
Data & Society Fellow
New York City
The fellowship brings together researchers, entrepreneurs, activists, policy creators, journalists and public intellectuals who are interested in engaging one another on the key issues introduced by the increasing availability of data in society.
Donald W. Reynolds Fellowships
Columbia, MO or remote
The fellowship offers an annual program for individuals to develop innovative ideas within journalism and to help build the public’s knowledge in these areas.
Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship
New York City
The fellowship offers one fellow a nine-month period of writing, reporting and providing analysis on newsworthy international events at the Council on Foreign Relations headquarters. Interested candidates who meet the program’s eligibility requirements can apply online between January 1 and March 1 on an annual basis.
Fellowship in Professional Journalism for Morning News Journalists
Dallas, TX
The fellow will contribute to the student-generated news website at the University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication as well as teach a course in her own expertise.
Fulbright Journalism & Communications Grants
Fulbright offers opportunities in Germany, Ireland, Spain and Taiwan. The timeline for this year is now closed but will start again in the early spring.
Google Journalism Fellowships
Various locations
The fellowship is for undergraduate, graduate and journalism students interested in using technology to tell stories in new and dynamic ways at various organizations.
Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR)
The Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR) is a media-funding project operated by the European Journalism Centre (EJC). The grant programme aims to advance creative reporting approaches, thus enabling a better coverage of international development issues. The grant intends to raise awareness about these issues by enabling the production of stories that have a strong impact on media audiences in the following nine European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Deadline: Mar. 2, 2016
International Reporting Fellowship for Minority Journalists
Various locations
This short-term program allows journalists of color the chance to travel overseas to report on and publish stories about underreported issues of interest to their communities.
Joan Shorenstein Fellowship
Cambridge, MA
The fellowship brings journalists, policymakers and scholars together to the Harvard Kennedy School to advance research in media, politics and public policy.
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2016
Knight-Mozilla Fellowship
Various locations
Fellows spend 10 months embedded with partner newsrooms, such as the New York Times and ProPublica. Fellows are developers, technologists, civic hackers and data crunchers who work with the community inside and outside of their newsroom to develop open-source projects.
Knight Science Journalism Fellowship
Cambridge, MA
The nine-month Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT aims to increase mid-career journalists’ understanding of science, technology, medicine and environment by working with scientists and policy makers.
Knight-Wallace Fellowship
Ann Arbor, MI
The Knight-Wallace Fellowship brings journalists to the University of Michigan to bridge academia together with journalism.
Kyoto Prize Journalism Fellowship
San Diego, CA
The Kyoto Prize Journalism Fellowship at Point Loma Nazarene University is an initiative to develop modern education in the sciences, philosophy, society and the arts.
Meredith-Cronkite Fellowship
Phoenix, AZ
The week-long multimedia fellowship program sponsored by the Meredith Corporation and its Phoenix television station, KPHO CBS 5, offers broadcast journalism students from underrepresented groups a week of hands-on experience.
Metpro Tribune
Los Angeles or Chicago
Metpro helps beginning journalists launch careers and boost diversity in Tribune newsrooms.
MJ Bear Fellowship
Through the Online News Association, the MJ Bear Fellowships identify and celebrate early-career digital journalists who have demonstrated that they deserve support for their efforts.
Munk School of Global Affairs Global Journalism Fellowship
Toronto, Canada
This fellowship awards 20 fellows the chance to work at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs for media around the world in various platforms from broadcast to online.
National Geographic Photography Fellowship
Various locations
The two-year fellowship allows photographers to share their visual expertise with diverse areas of the National Geographic Society and with the public, producing stories, sharing their storytelling knowledge with other explorers, and bringing the Society’s mission to illuminate, teach, and inspire the world at large.
Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme
Oxford, UK
This fellowship allows 25 mid-career journalists from around the world to conduct academic research in Oxford for various months in the academic year.
RJI Fellowships
Missouri School of Journalism and Elsewhere
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute invites proposals from people and institutions to collaborate with RJI on innovative ideas and projects to improve the practice or understanding of journalism. The fellows program gives people and institutions the time and space to create, test and measure strategies, products and services that will strengthen journalism in the 21st Century. There are three types of RJI fellowships: residential, non-residential and institutional.
Santa Fe Institute’s Journalism Fellowship In Complex Systems
Santa Fe, NM
The fellowship is for veteran journalists interested in exploring complex systems science more deeply and understanding the issues underlying current scientific debates in many scientific fields. The 2015 application period for this fellowship is postponed.
Scripps Howard Foundation Multimedia Fellowship
Washington DC
This year-long fellowship allows post-graduates to create multimedia projects for the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire’s website as well as mentor undergraduate students. Next year’s application deadline is in April, applications open in December.
The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism
Atlanta, GA
The one-year fellowship is offered to six journalists and is designed to enhance public understanding of mental health issues and combat stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness.
Deadline: Apr. 13, 2016
World Press Institute Fellowship
Various locations
The fellowship is offered to 10 journalists from around the world and provides immersion into governance, politics, business, media, journalistic ethics and culture of the United States.
Sonia Paul is a freelance journalist reporting in India and the United States, and is the editorial assistant at MediaShift. Her work has appeared in a broad range of media, including the Al Jazeera Media Network, Caravan, Foreign Policy, Guardian, Mashable, New York Times, PRI’s The World, Roads & Kingdoms and VICE News. She previously produced the grant-funded podcast series Shizuoka Speaks, based in Japan. She is on Twitter and Instagram @sonipaul.
