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 let us know by contacting Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org and we’ll add them to the list. All featured fellowships are paid promotional slots. Fellowship descriptions are excerpts, edited for length and clarity.
Featured Fellowship
RJI Fellowships
Columbia, Mo. or remote
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute invites proposals from people and institutions to collaborate with us on innovative ideas and projects to improve the practice or understanding of journalism. We’re giving special consideration this year to ideas and projects focused on solving problems created by filter bubbles, fake news and mistrust of the news media; however, we also invite submission of other ideas and projects that could strengthen democracy through better journalism. Learn more here: https://www.rjionline.org/fellowships
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2017
JANUARY DEADLINES
O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism
Milwaukee
What could you cover in a yearlong journalism project? The O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism enables journalists to spend an academic year engaging with faculty, students and experts at Marquette University in Milwaukee – and then return to their newsroom with a world-class project and a university-funded student intern for summer 2018. In addition, each O’Brien Fellow’s reporting project will be presented at a symposium. For more information, visit marquette.edu/obrien-fellowship. To apply, go here.
Deadline: January 27, 2017
Reuters Journalism Fellowship Program
Oxford, UK
This fellowship allows 25 mid-career journalists from around the world to conduct academic research at the University of Oxford.
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2017
FEBRUARY & BEYOND DEADLINES
Joan Shorenstein Fellowship
The mission of the Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program is to advance research in the field of media, politics and public policy; facilitate a dialogue among journalists, scholars, policymakers and students; provide an opportunity for reflection; and create a vibrant and long-lasting community of scholars and practitioners. The primary focus for a Fellow is to research, write and publish a paper on a media/politics topic.
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2017
Knight-Wallace Fellowships
A Knight-Wallace Fellowship recognizes exceptional journalists for their work, leadership and potential with a unique opportunity: an academic year of study, developing new perspectives and networks, and achieving both professional and personal growth at the University of Michigan.
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2017
Open Road Films and Participant Media, with support from First Look Media, are sponsoring a fellowship of up to $100,000 to be awarded by The Boston Globe for one or more individuals or teams of journalists to work on in-depth research and reporting projects. The chosen journalist(s) will collaborate with established investigative reporters and editors from The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight Team.
Deadline: March 1, 2017
The Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program offers a crash course in investigative journalism. It also supports emerging journalists and media professionals, allowing them to make invaluable contributions to a high-flying news organization.
Deadline: April 1, 2017
The Greenberg World Fellows Program, which is part of Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, provides the opportunity for World Fellows to contribute to Yale’s intellectual life, participate in events, and collaborate with peers, audit classes, mentor students and lead round-table discussions. The mission of Yale World Fellows is to cultivate and empower a network of globally engaged leaders committed to making the world a better place. The 2017 program will run from mid-August to mid-December and fellows will get stipend to cover the costs of living in New Haven.
Deadline: Varies
ROLLING DEADLINES
Outside Editorial Fellowship
The fellowship is a six-month, paid position in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Duties include fact-checking, reporting, research, proofreading, and assorted support chores for the editorial department. Fellows occasionally have the opportunity to write short pieces for the magazine and website, and they will attend editorial meetings, work closely with top editors, and gain hands-on experience at an award-winning magazine.
Deadline: Rolling
Holly Whisenhunt Stephen Fellowship, Investigative Reporters & Editors
Send broadcast and/or radio journalists to IRE’s weeklong Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) Boot Camp series. The fellowships were established by IRE and WTHR-Indianapolis to honor Stephen, an award-winning journalist and longtime IRE member who died in Nov. 2008 after a long battle with cancer.
Deadline: Rolling — 60 days before the Boot Camp you are applying to attend.
Ottaway Fellowships, Investigative Reporters & Editors
Established by David Ottaway and the Ottaway Family Fund to send a limited number of professional journalists to IRE’s weeklong Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) Boot Camp series. These fellowships are aimed at increasing the diversity of IRE’s membership. Applicants for this award should identify themselves with one of the following minority groups: Black/African American, American Indian/Alaskan, Native American, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino.
Deadline: Rolling — 60 days before the Boot Camp you are applying to attend.
R-CAR Fellowship, Investigative Reporters & Editors
The Fund for Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting helps a journalist from a news organization in a rural area attend one of IRE’s week-long CAR boot camps. It was established by IRE member Daniel Gilbert to give rural reporters skills that will help them uncover stories that otherwise would not come to light. The fellowship is offered in conjunction with The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.
Deadline: Rolling — 60 days before the Boot Camp you are applying to attend.
IN PROGRESS OR FUTURE FELLOWSHIPS
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.
Knight-Mozilla Fellowship
Various locations
The Knight-Mozilla Fellowship places creative technologists in newsrooms to work on open-source tools and support reporting that strengthens the web and changes people’s lives. Knight-Mozilla Fellows spend 10 months working with newsroom technology teams to write open-source code, analyze and visualize data, and explore tough problems facing journalism.
Images and Voices of Hope 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, which will run February 1 through August 1, will provide five fellows with a stipend to spend six months telling Restorative Narratives in various communities.
McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism
The aim of the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism is to support in-depth, ambitious coverage of critical issues related to the global economy and business. In an age when many news organizations no longer have the resources to tackle complex, time-consuming stories, the Fellowships enable experienced journalists to do the deep reporting needed to produce a serious piece of investigative, analytic, or narrative journalism.
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.
The Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative
Moment Magazine is launching a fellowship to support reporters pursuing investigative stories that address anti-Semitism, anti-Israel and other prejudices that threaten Jewish rights to dignity and self-determination. One grantee will be awarded $10,000 USD. Applicants will need to make the case for how their proposal addresses problems of anti-Semitism or anti-Israel prejudice in a new way or concentrates on an under-reported aspect of this issue.
Bianca Fortis is the associate editor at MediaShift, a founding member of the Transborder Media storytelling collective and a social media consultant. Follow her on Twitter @biancafortis.