Journalists of Color Fellowship (2023)

Description: The Solutions Journalism Network invites you to apply for its Journalists of Color Fellowship. This 9-month fellowship is designed to identify and support a cohort of diverse, next-generation leaders through a program of solutions journalism, leadership training, mentorship, and community of practice. Fellows will leave the program with a clear understanding of core leadership principles and learn how to spearhead coverage that responds to the most pressing social issues of our time. In addition, fellows will work in a community of peers and gain knowledge from leaders of color working in newsrooms across the U.S. The fellowship was created with the intention to support more BIPOC journalists into newsroom leadership positions, where diversity and inclusion is critical to news coverage and the media industry as a whole.

Fellowship duration: September 6, 2023  to May 31, 2024 

Application deadline: July 17, 2023

Who we are looking for: Ten mid-career U.S. based journalists who are interested in editorial management. This is specifically designed to support journalists of color, with at least 5 years of experience, who want to move into their first journalism leadership role. A role where they will manage people, lead projects and have direct responsibility to determine news coverage at their organization. Consideration will be given to applicants in the first year of their first media leadership role. 

Finalists will be interviewed before proceeding to the final application stage. In the final application stage, finalists will be asked to provide a letter of support from newsroom management/supervisor. The letter should also serve as a letter of recommendation and state that the fellow will be given the adequate time to attend fellowship activities, including an intensive 5-day training on best practices around teaching solutions journalism.

Initiative offerings: 

• Fellowship stipend $6,500
• Solutions Journalism Training 
• Leadership Training
• Community conversations & mentorship
• Webinars and Coaching

Fellowship activities:

• Monthly one-on-one video calls with fellowship manager or network mentors
• Monthly fellowship meetings
• Trainings, Webinars and Workshops 
• Completing SJN’s “Train-The-Trainers” curriculum resulting in their accreditation as solutions journalism trainers

If you have any questions about the fellowship prior to submitting your application, please reach out to JOC fellowship project manager, Ja’Nel Johnson-Phillips at [email protected].