2024 Theme: Direct Revenue

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.

Funding:

Up to $100,000 which includes:

• A monthly living expenses stipend
• Project expenses paid through the institute

Phases of the fellowship: 

July – Aug: Research & planning 

Sept – Nov: Build your resource 

Dec: Pilot in Mizzou’s One newsroom (KBIA, KOMU, Missourian, Business Alert and Vox)

Jan – Feb: Implement your resource in at least 5 independent community-centered newsrooms across the country. 

March – May: Measure the ongoing impact of your resource in the newsrooms you implemented it in, get feedback and finalize changes to your resource before launching it to the industry 

June: Launch resource to industry, teach workshop on implementation at RJI 

Deliverables & expectations: 

• One article each month published on rjionline.org that gives transparent updates on your progress, results, lessons learned, challenges, successes and failures. 

• Lead a monthly public webinar, panel or event that brings journalists, students, faculty, newsrooms and communities into the conversation around your project and/or supplies learning opportunities related to your project. Should also function as a feedback loop on your project deliverables and resource end product. 

• Weekly meetings with the RJI Director of Innovation to report progress, ask questions and access RJI resources.

• Guest lecture monthly in a class or student related training/event relevant to your subject at Mizzou and RJI.

• One presentation to Mizzou faculty & guests per a semester to talk about progress, lessons and opportunities for collaboration. 

• Implement your resource in the One Newsroom + at least 5 community centered newsrooms across the country. 

• Mentor, manage and engage with Missouri School of Journalism students hired by RJI to work on your project.

• Launch a final free, interactive resource by June 2025 that is ready to be utilized by newsrooms & journalists + documentation on how to use it and the principles behind it.

This fellowship is considered a full time 1-year contract and cannot be combined with other roles or remote jobs. There will be no possibility for extension or renewal.