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.
AUGUST 2017
Alfred Friendly Press Partners: General Fellowship
Early-career professional journalists from developing countries with proficiency in English can apply for a six-month fellowship. Alfred Friendly provides fellows with basic and advanced hands-on instruction at the Missouri School of Journalism and places them in leading U.S. newsrooms. The successful candidate will be 25-35 years old and have at least three years of experience as a journalist at a print, online or broadcast media outlet. Participants work as staff reporters in their host newsrooms are required to develop training plans that they implement when they return to their home newsrooms.
Deadline: Aug. 31, 2017
Alfred Friendly Press Partners: Daniel Pearl Fellowship
Sharing the same goals, the Daniel Pearl Foundation partnered with Press Partners in 2003 to offer special fellowships to honor the life and work of journalist Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal South Asia bureau chief who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Daniel Pearl Fellows – 12 from Pakistan, four from Egypt, two from Malaysia and one from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen – have worked at the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, ProPublica, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Huffington Post (DC bureau), and The Wall Street Journal (Atlanta, New York and DC bureaus), along with smaller news outlets such as The Berkshire Eagle/North Adams Transcript.
Deadline: Aug. 31, 2017
SEPTEMBER & BEYOND
Knight Visiting Nieman Fellowships
The Knight Visiting Nieman Fellowships at Harvard offer short-term research opportunities to individuals interested in working on special projects designed to advance journalism in some new way.
Deadline: Sept. 29, 2017
Mother Jones Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program
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: Oct. 1, 2017
Atlantic Media Fellowship
Atlantic Media offers high-achieving recent college graduates a unique opportunity to participate in the Atlantic Media Fellowship Program. The Program is a structured, year-long paid fellowship for top-tier talent committed to editorial-side or business-side careers in media.
Deadline: Oct. 2, 2017
Fulbright Journalism & Communications Grants
The Fulbright–National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship provides a unique platform for American Fulbright students to develop global narratives and discuss commonalities across borders around a common issue or theme. Trained, supported, and mentored by National Geographic Editors during their grants in one or multiple countries, Fellows will use new media platforms to help build ties across cultures while enhancing mutual understanding. The digital content that they produce will be featured online in various places, including, most prominently, a blog hosted by National Geographic
Deadline: Oct. 6, 2017
Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation
The Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation brings individuals to Harvard University to work on a specific course of research or a specific project relating to journalism innovation.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2017 for International Journalists; Jan. 31, 2018 for American Journalists
Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship
Print, broadcast and online journalists in the United States can apply for a US$65,000 fellowship in New York. The Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowships seek foreign correspondents or editors for a nine-month period of writing and analysis at the Council of Foreign Relations. The program enables the fellow to increase competency in reporting and interpreting events abroad and promotes the quality of responsible and discerning journalism.
Deadline: March 1, 2018
Greenberg World Fellows Program
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 a stipend to cover the costs of living in New Haven.
Deadline: Varies
ROLLING DEADLINES
Gender and LGBTI Rights Reporting Fellowship
The International Reporting Project is accepting applications from professional journalists to report on gender and LGBTI rights around the world. Applicants may propose any stories that focus on gender rights or LGBTI rights (or both).
Deadline: TBD
Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship
To foster, promote, sustain and improve the best traditions of American journalism, the Alicia Patterson Foundation will provide support for journalists engaged in rigorous, probing, spirited, independent and skeptical work that will benefit the public. The foundation will support journalism and will foster a community of journalists engaged in truthfully informing the public.
Deadline: Rolling
International Reporting Project Religion Fellowship
The International Reporting Project (IRP) is accepting proposals to report on global religion issues. Possible topics include conflict and peace; environment and sustainability; political economy and development; health and education; gender, race and sexuality; law and human rights; social movements; migration; and humanitarianism.
Deadline: Rolling
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 week-long 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 week-long 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
California Endowment Fellowship
Latino USA, a weekly show distributed by NPR and produced by The Futuro Media Group, is taking applications for the first of two (2) year-long California-based fellowships. We are seeking graduate students, recent graduates from a journalism program or young professionals with a passionate interest in reporting on California communities and health inequities.
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.
World Journalist Fellowship
New York City
This Fellowship provides support to international journalists who enroll in one of our graduate programs in journalism at the NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
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.
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
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, policy makers 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.
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.
Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism
The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism offers qualified journalists the opportunity to enhance their understanding and knowledge of business, economics and finance in a year long, full-time program administered by the Columbia Journalism School.
Martha’s Vineyard Fellowship for Innovation in Journalism
The Martha’s Vineyard Fellowship for Innovation in Journalism, created in association with the Noepe Center for the Literary Arts, will select a fellow who will work with reporters, editors and the Gazette’s webmaster in the Vineyard Gazette newsroom on a specific project that draws on publicly available data sources to create a dynamic news page. The Gazette has created the fellowship to promote experimentation and to cultivate the use of technology and multimedia in a traditional newsroom setting. Now in its second year, the fellowship is designed to give the fellow the experience of working in a small community newsroom while introducing the newspaper staff to new ideas and skills.
The Charles Koch Institute’s Media and Journalism Fellowship
The Charles Koch Institute’s Media and Journalism Fellowship provides promising writers, reporters, and multimedia professionals the opportunity to develop and refine their professional skills while working full-time in the industry. The year-long fellowship offers world-class curriculum and an individualized experience—including summits, online webinars, professional skills training, industry speakers, and mentoring—for the next generation of journalists and storytellers.
Knight Science Journalism Fellowship
The Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program at MIT supports a global community of dedicated and thoughtful journalists specializing in science, health, technology and environmental reporting. KSJ@MIT is designed to recognize journalists who demonstrate a high level of professional excellence and accomplishment as well as a long-term commitment to their craft. Journalists from all countries compete on an equal basis and are encouraged to apply.
Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism
Thanks to a campus-wide commitment to research and teaching on the many facets of environmental problems, the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism awards five Ted Scripps Fellowships each year. Over the course of an academic year, fellows deepen their knowledge of the environment through courses, weekly seminars, and field trips. They also engage in independent study expected to lead to a significant piece of journalistic work. The program covers tuition and fees, including a recreation center pass, and provides a $56,000 stipend.
Spotlight Investigative Journalism Fellowship
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.
Public Interest Technology Fellowship
New America’s Public Interest Technology Fellowship Program is an ambitious new initiative designed to support an emerging public interest technology sector in America—the application of technology knowledge skills in policymaking and public service to help solve public problems.
2017 Next Gen Radio Early Career Fellowship
The Next Generation Radio Fellowship is a week-long digital journalism training project designed to give competitively selected participants, who are interested in radio and journalism, the skills and opportunity to report and produce their own multimedia story.
ICFJ Bringing Home the World Fellowship
The Bringing Home the World Fellowship helps U.S.-based minority journalists cover compelling yet under-reported international stories, increasing the diversity of voices in global news. The program helps level the playing field and redress the inequality minority journalists often face by giving them the opportunity to report from overseas and advance their careers.
Gwen Ifill/PBS NewsHour Journalism Fellow
The Gwen Ifill/PBS NewsHour Journalism Fellowship for current undergraduate and graduate students is a 10-week, paid position where you can gain hands-on, real-world experience working on “PBS NewsHour.”
ERA Summer 2017 Program
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator combines seed capital, hands-on help and a great co-working location with an expert team to positively impact the trajectory of early-stage startups. ERA runs two, four-month programs per year.
IRE Freelance Fellowship
Awards of $1,000 or more are available to assist in conducting investigative projects. These fellowships for journalists who make their living primarily as freelancers were created in 2008.
James Richard Bennett Scholarships
The scholarship sends a limited number of college students in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma or Louisiana to attend the annual IRE conference. The scholarships are made possible by a donation to IRE by Dr. James R. Bennett, professor emeritus of English, University of Arkansas.
IRE Diversity Fellowship
Established by the Philip L. Graham Fund to send a limited number of professional journalists to attend IRE’s conferences. 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.
Jennifer Leonard Scholarship
The award sends women of modest means who are college students studying journalism or professional journalists with three or fewer years of working experience to IRE’s conferences.
Global Religion Issues Reporting Fellowship
The International Reporting Project accepts applications from professional journalists to report on global religion issues. Some of the areas on which proposals might focus include the relationship of religion to conflict and peace, environment and sustainability, political economy and development, health and education and gender, race and sexuality.
JAWS CAMP Fellowship
Each year the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) brings fellows to its annual Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP) for three days of training, networking and professional development.
Naughton Fellowship
After two years, Poynter is reopening its Naughton Fellowship, a one-year position allowing the recipient to create journalism about journalism alongside the team of media reporters in St. Petersburg, Florida. The fellowship, which is named after former Poynter president and New York Times correspondent Jim Naughton, has been retooled this year to focus on visual journalism.
N.S. Bienstock Fellowship
An award established in 1999 by Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper, the original owners of N.S. Bienstock. Acquired by United Talent Agency in 2014, the firm now known as Bienstock, a UTA Company has been a leading talent agency in news and reality-based programming for more than 50 years and is a long-time member of RTDNA. This award recognizes a promising minority journalist in radio or television news.
RTDNF’s first fellowship is named for Michele Clark, the CBS News correspondent who was killed in a plane crash while on assignment in 1972. This fellowship is awarded to a young, promising minority professional in television or radio news.
Mother Jones is looking for an all-star digital-media fellow to keep it current on social platforms, and enhance its multimedia coverage of breaking news—especially with snappy, smart video. This fellow will work closely with Mother Jones‘ digital news team in our New York City office. Fellows will learn about every aspect of modern online publishing, collaborating with seasoned editors and reporters. They’ll also attend regular skill-building sessions covering topics that span the operations of a media organization.
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.
Grist Fellowships
The Grist Fellowship Program is an opportunity for journalists to hone their skills at a national news outlet and deepen their understanding of environmental issues. Grist is looking for early-career journalists with a variety of skills, from traditional reporting to multimedia whizbangery.
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.
