About RJI fellowships
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute invites proposals from individuals and organizations who wish to partner with us on practical innovative projects for community centered news, journalists and the communities they serve.
All fellowship projects are built, tested and launched to the public within the span of the fellowship and must be free, accessible and open-source for journalists, newsrooms and the public to utilize.
Applications open December 2nd, 2024 – Feb 7, 2025. Apply here.
Past fellows have built a slack based SEO tool, a bilingual guide to misinformation, a toolkit to learn ham radio operations and other amazing resources for journalists.
Whatever your idea, its creation will be free and utilized by other news organizations, journalists and the people who depend on them by the end of your fellowship. You will publish regular articles to share what you’re learning for other newsrooms and journalists who want to tackle similar projects.
The final product of your fellowship must be a resource that journalists and newsrooms can utilize – whether it’s a guide, toolkit, platform, workshop or tool.
Register for one of the RJI Fellowship Q&As:
Or set up a time to ask Kat questions 1-1 through her calendly.
We have two types of RJI Fellowships:
1. Residential Fellowship
Our residential fellowship is for an individual who wants to spend a year at RJI to create a resource to help with a current need, gap or challenge for journalists and/or newsrooms. The resource can be a platform, a tool, a workshop series; it can be digital or physical. It just needs to be free, accessible and utilizable by newsrooms across the country.
The fellow will collaborate with RJI staff, students and faculty on-site at our institute in Columbia, Missouri. They will get a $5k monthly living stipend and have access to up to $100,000 funding through the institute for project expenses. The end product will be a free, accessible and equitable resource that has been piloted across the country in community-centered newsrooms before the end of the fellowship.
- START DATE:
- July 1, 2025
- DURATION:
- 12 months
- FUNDING:
- Up to $100,000 for project expenses + a $5k monthly living stipend.
- APPLICATION DEADLINE:
- Feb 4, 2025
2. Remote: Nonresidential or Institutional
Nonresidential fellowships are a remote fellowship where the funding goes directly to an individual to let them pursue an idea outside of their day job/work. You will visit to RJI to kick off your fellowship meet your Fellow cohort, RJI leadership, faculty, students and access on-site resources. Your project will be implemented and tested in the newsroom(s) of your choice during your fellowship, before your final product is launched for journalists to utilize.
- START:
- July 1, 2025
- HOW LONG:
- 8 months
- STIPEND:
- Fellows receive a $25,000 stipend + a $5000 impact bonus, payable in increments as deliverables are met for each stage of the fellowship.
- APPLICATION DEADLINE:
- Feb 7, 2025
Institutional fellowships are a remote fellowship where the funding for the fellowship goes to the company or institution, rather than an individual. RJI will collaborate with the individual assigned to lead the team/project, that individual will be named an RJI Institutional Fellow. The Institutional Fellow will visit RJI with the fellow cohort to meet RJI leadership, faculty, students and access on-site resources. The stipend for this fellowship can be used for salary relief for the fellow, or for another purpose that the company or institution determines will best ensure the success of the fellowship project. The project can be implemented and tested at the institution or in another newsroom of their choice during the fellowship.
- START:
- July 1, 2025
- HOW LONG:
- 8 months
- STIPEND:
- Fellow’s institution receives a $25,000 stipend + $5000 impact bonus, payable in increments as deliverables are met for each stage of the fellowship.
- APPLICATION DEADLINE:
- Feb 4, 2025
Apply here:
For proposals we advance to the second stage of consideration: you will be notified in February and given two weeks to answer a second, more detailed set of questions about your project, planned deliverables, budget and end product through submittable. These second round applications will be reviewed by a committee of past RJI Fellows, journalism professionals, faculty and RJI staff in March. A top 10-15 finalists will then be chosen and interviewed by zoom in April 2026.
If you have questions about or at any time during this process, contact Kat Duncan.