Deadline: 07-Jul-20
Wallace House is currently offering ten Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowships for accomplished journalists with different backgrounds and experience to report on most pressing issues, from social shifts precipitated by the pandemic to persistent social justice issues surrounding race, ethnicity and inequality.
The Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship will take the place of traditional, residential Knight-Wallace Fellowship for the 2020-21 academic year in response to continued uncertainty about close gathering and in-person instruction. Selected Fellows will not be required to leave their newsrooms or places of work. This adapted fellowship will maintain multidisciplinary approach and cohort-based philosophy.
A Working Fellowship
The Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship for the 2020-2021 academic year is a working fellowship featuring
- An eight-month program focused on supporting ambitious, in-depth, innovative journalism projects examining most pressing public challenges from social shifts precipitated by the pandemic to persistent social justice issues surrounding race, ethnicity and inequality
- A remote structure that allows staff reporters to remain with their news organizations and freelancers to remain in their place of work
- A cohort of ten Fellows selected from a pool of experienced journalists from a variety of beats and expertise
- A $70,000 stipend to support reporting and fellowship participation dispersed monthly from September 2020 through April 2021
- An additional $10,000 in supplemental support to cover extra costs including health insurance, reporting equipment and travel-related expenses
- Weekly remote seminars with University of Michigan faculty and subject matter experts from a wide range of fields
- Professional development and supplemental skills workshops
- Subject to public-health guidance, one-week Fellowship Cohort sessions held at Wallace House on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor with travel, lodging and hosting expenses covered by the program
- A year-end symposium at the University of Michigan highlighting work produced during the fellowship
Eligibility Criteria
- This program is open to staff, freelance and contract journalists. Applicants must have at least five years of reporting experience and the work history and editorial support to manage a major, long-term project.
- Applicants must be either a U.S. resident or hold a U.S. passport, if working abroad. Uncertainty around international travel restrictions makes it difficult to sponsor non-U.S. residents at this time.
- Applicants who are staff journalists at established media outlets must be able to demonstrate managerial support to focus on an in-depth reporting project for their organization and participate in fellowship activities from September 2020 through April 2021, the period of the fellowship.
- Freelance journalists who apply must have a record of high-level work for established media outlets. Freelance applicants must also have a detailed proposal of where they would place the project, or if possible, an organization committed to publishing the reporting project.
- Published or produced work is a requirement of the fellowship. The output should match the proposed project and form of journalism. For instance, a documentary filmmaker might complete one film during the period of the fellowship; a long-form magazine writer might produce one or two published pieces; a community-based or enterprise reporter might produce a project that appears weekly or monthly. The fellowship is not intended to support daily beat reporting that would be produced regardless of fellowship support. It is also not intended for book writing.
- All work produced during the fellowship will be owned by the media organization for which it is produced and will carry an agreed-upon acknowledgment of support by the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists at the University of Michigan.
- Journalists selected for the Reporting Fellowship are still eligible to apply for the traditional, on-campus Knight-Wallace Fellowship in the future.
Application Requirements
In addition to providing professional background information, a resume and three work samples that demonstrate the applicant’s ability to successfully pursue the project, applicants will be required to submit:
- A reporting proposal of up to 800 words addressing a coverage topic or project they plan to report and implement during the fellowship. Proposals should be broad enough to allow for deep exploration and storytelling over eight months, but focused enough to provide structure.
- Details on where the reporting will be published or broadcast
- A personal statement of up to 600 words examining the applicant’s inspirations and motivations to apply for the Reporting Fellowship
- For journalists employed by a news organization, written confirmation from the employer that the applicant will be permitted to make the fellowship reporting their primary focus
- For freelance or contract journalists, written confirmation from a news organization agreeing to publish the work or details on securing a publishing partner
- Names, affiliations and email addresses of two professional references who can speak to the applicant’s ability to produce and complete high-quality work within the time frame of the fellowship
For more information, visit https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/knight-wallace/reporting-fellowship/