How to nominate a student:
Applications should come from the school’s dean or director, not from individual students, by Nov. 25, 2026. The application packet must include:
- A letter of nomination from the program dean or director. Nominees should be top journalism students (graduate or advanced undergraduates) who have completed intermediate- and advanced-level reporting courses and a fundamental multimedia journalism course or who have demonstrated comparable expertise. Recent graduates (within six months of the beginning of the summer fellowship) also will be considered. The nomination letter from the dean’s or director’s office should vouch for the applicant(s) and indicate the school’s commitment to provide $12,000 in support for each fellow. Deans and directors may nominate as many students as they like. Please let us know what skills and/or areas of expertise the student would bring to News21. News21 fellows produce rich multimedia content, so we try to build a cohort covering all mediums.
- The student’s resume with current contact information;
- A letter from each student applicant outlining qualifications, career aspirations and why they would be a good fit for the program;
- A link to a portfolio and/or at least three work samples. Examples of work may include published clips, videos, photos, design efforts or other representative work that illustrates the student’s areas of interest and/or expertise.
- Applications should be emailed to Cronkite School Senior Associate Dean Rebecca Blatt at [email protected].
How Candidates Are Selected:
Candidates are judged on the following criteria: quality of journalism (demonstrated storytelling and reporting skills); strength of recommendations from their schools; multimedia skills; investigative reporting skills; ability to work as a member of a team in an open, collaborative environment. Demonstrated special skills such as web development, design, photography, videography or data analysis also may weigh in the decision.
Students may be asked to participate in a Zoom or phone interview before final selections are made.
Schools and students will be notified of selection decisions in early December.
Financing Fellowships:
Some schools have used existing scholarships or special funds to support their fellows while others have garnered new support through naming opportunities. In the latter circumstance, the supporter will be credited for the student’s work. Scholarship funds may be available through News21. For more information, contact Senior Associate Dean Rebecca Blatt at [email protected].
Benefits:
Since 2011, fellows have come from 42 large and small universities in and out of the U.S. They include American University, ASU, DePauw University, Dublin City University, Elon University, Florida International University, George Washington University, Hampton University, Louisiana State University, Marquette University, Morgan State University, St. Bonaventure University, Syracuse University, University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Maryland, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon, University of North Carolina, University of North Texas, University of British Columbia and University of Mississippi among others.
Students receive an unparalleled experience working one-on-one with some of the best journalism minds in the country on in-depth and digitally innovative projects. They receive national distribution and recognition of their work. Past News21 fellows have an employment placement record – both qualitatively and quantitatively — that far exceeds the national averages and the placements of peers within their institutions.
Deans and directors report a dramatic transformation of their curricula in recent years, due to lessons learned in News21.
How to apply for a News21 scholarship
The News21 Fellowship is open to journalism and communications students at universities across the country. Students attending universities that cannot fund their fellowship can apply for a scholarship to complete the program. Please check with faculty at your institution before applying.
About the experience: Students who are offered fellowships must attend weekly Zoom seminar classes throughout the Spring semester (these are three-hour classes offered Thursdays between the hours of 10am and 2pm MST) and commit to the 10-week paid summer fellowship based out of our Phoenix newsroom (approximate dates are June 1-Aug. 6). The summer fellowship is a full-time, high-intensity reporting experience. It includes an $8,000 stipend, before taxes, and travel funds to report across the country.
About the fellows: The News21 program is a rigorous immersion project that requires fellows to be collaborative, exhibit leadership and initiative, and be both responsible and responsive. The students who excel in the program welcome the challenge and commit fully to spending the summer producing deep reporting and exceptional storytelling. They are curious, meticulous, collaborative, flexible and fiercely committed to ethical reporting.
News21 fellows travel to many communities across the country that are often overlooked by other news organizations, so a nuanced understanding of ethics in news coverage is essential. News21 has always had a rich, multimedia focus, so we encourage students with a range of skills to apply, including writers, photojournalists, video and audio journalists, data visualization producers and emerging media storytellers.
To apply: Complete this application by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 22. You will need to upload a resume, links to work samples and a personal statement about why you want to do the program and what you would bring to the team.
Please have two references (at least one should be a faculty member from your university) complete this form by Nov. 22.
What happens next: A committee of Cronkite faculty will review the applications and hope to notify all applicants of decisions in late November or early December.
For more information: Contact News21 Executive Editor Jessica Boehm ([email protected]).
