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 and implemented within the span of the 8 month fellowship and must be free, accessible and open-source for journalists, newsrooms and the public to utilize.

Applications open December 4th, 2023 – Feb 4, 2024. Apply here.

Past fellows have built a slack based SEO tool, a toolkit to work with incarcerated communities, a development tracker open source tool, a safety platform and other amazing resources for journalism.

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.

The 2022 RJI Fellows present their resources, tools and platforms built during the Fellowship! All these resources are free for any journalist or newsroom to utilize.

We have two types of RJI Fellowships:

1. Residential Fellowship

This year’s residential fellowship is for an individual who wants to spend a year at RJI to create a resource to help newsrooms generate new sources of direct revenue. Some examples include: growing and making use of first-party data, creating new products, improving existing options like sponsorships and memberships.

The fellow will collaborate with RJI staff, students and faculty on-site at our institute in Columbia, Missouri. They will get a living stipend and have access to 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.

Read more details here.

START DATE:
July 1, 2024
DURATION:
12 months
FUNDING:
Up to $100,000 which includes a living stipend and funding for project expenses through the institute.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Feb 4, 2024

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 make at least one visit to RJI to 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, 2024
HOW LONG:
8 months
STIPEND:
Fellows receive a $25,000 stipend, payable in increments as deliverables are met for each stage of the fellowship.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Feb 4, 2024

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, 2024
HOW LONG:
8 months
STIPEND:
Fellow’s institution receives a $25,000 stipend, payable in increments as deliverables are met for each stage of the fellowship.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Feb 4, 2024

Apply here:

submit

For proposals we advance to the second stage of consideration: you will be notified in early 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 2024.

If you have questions about or at any time during this process, contact Kat Duncan.