American journalism is experiencing a severe and systemic diversity crisis, one that was foretold yet long ignored. There are simply not enough reporters and editors of color to inform, engage and accurately and fairly reflect our society.
Many newsrooms have tackled urgent social issues with majority white staffs—some more successfully than others. The National Press Foundation intends to do its part to address this problem through a “Widening the Pipeline” Fellowship designed to help confront the common lament that “it’s hard to find qualified journalists of color.”
NPF is committed to leveraging its resources and decades of training experience to help grow the pipeline of diverse journalists who will rise to positions of influence in America’s newsrooms.
Specifically, NPF will:
- Recruit up to 25 young journalists for a 12-month fellowship in the leadership, in-depth reporting, data and multimedia skills they need to hold governments and corporations accountable and to advance in their newsrooms.
- Provide each fellow with individual coaching and mentoring.
- Bring fellows to Washington for training, mentoring and networking sessions with editors.
- Survey fellows on promotion, retention and job satisfaction.
The 2022 program will build on NPF’s Paul Miller Washington Reporting and Accountability fellowships, existing partnerships, influential alumni and volunteers to support the growth of these public service-minded reporters. The application is here.
Beginning in March 2022, the once-monthly training sessions will include two in-person gatherings in Washington, D.C. (unless COVID-19 guidelines mandate that all sessions be virtual). Participants must be fully vaccinated to attend in-person trainings. NPF will pay for fellows’ airfare, hotel and most meals for the two in-person trainings. The estimated time commitment for virtual trainings, including prep and homework, is five hours per month.
Tentative dates are:
- March 20-23 Washington, DC
- April 22 Virtual
- May 20 Virtual
- June 24 Virtual
- July 22 Virtual
- September 23 Virtual
- October 21 Virtual
- November 18 Virtual
- December 16 Virtual
- January 20, 2023 Virtual
- February 17, 2023 Virtual
- March 28-April 2, 2023 Washington, DC
All virtual sessions will run from 11 am EST to 2:30 PM EST.
To qualify, applicants must be U.S.-based working journalists. You may be staff or freelance, but you must have a letter from an editor who will recommend you for the program and consider publishing your work. This fellowship is particularly suited to those who have more than one but fewer than seven years of journalism experience.
Successful applicants will need a letter from an editor or supervisor indicating their willingness to allow their attendance at all 12 sessions.
As always, NPF will post all videos and other resources from this training on our website so that all journalists can benefit. For questions and partnership opportunities, please contact Rachel Jones, Director of Journalism Initiatives, at rjones@nationalpress.org.
The deadline to apply is Feb. 6, 2022
This fellowship is sponsored by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation, Bayer AG and Twitter. NPF is solely responsible for the content.