McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism 2020 ($USD $15,000)

Deadline Date: January 10, 2020

Applications are open for the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism 2020. The McGraw Fellowship provides editorial and financial support to journalists who need the time and resources to produce a significant investigative or enterprise story that provides fresh insight into an important business, financial or economic topic.

The aim of the Fellowship is to support high-impact, ambitious coverage of critical issues related to the global economy, finance and business. In an age when many news organizations no longer have the resources to tackle complex, time-consuming stories, the Fellowships enable experienced journalists to do the deep reporting needed to produce a serious piece of investigative or enterprise journalism.

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism, an initiative of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, began offering Fellowships to accomplished journalists in the summer of 2014. Nearly three dozen veteran journalists have since been awarded grants of up to $15,000.

Benefits

• The Fellowship provides a grant of up to $15,000 for each project. The exact amount will depend on the time it takes to complete the project and the expenses needed; freelance journalists may also use some of the funding as a stipend for living expenses during the Fellowship.

Eligibility

• Open to anyone with at least five years professional experience in journalism;
• Freelance journalists, as well as reporters and editors currently working at a news organization or a journalism non-profit, may apply.
• They look for applicants with a proven ability to report and execute a complex project in their proposed medium; ideally, candidates will also have a strong background or reporting expertise on the subject of their piece.

How to Apply

• Applicants should submit a well-focused story proposal of no more than three pages through the accompanying online form. Think of it as pitch, much like you would submit to an editor at a newspaper, magazine, digital outlet, or radio station: give them enough preliminary reporting and documentation to demonstrate that the story is solid. The proposal should highlight what’s new and significant about the story, why it matters and what its potential impact might be. The proposal should also note where significant stories on the subject have run elsewhere and how the proposed piece would differ.
• Applicants should also briefly outline a proposed reporting plan and a timeline for completing the story and let the organizers know if a media outlet is lined up to run the story.
• In addition, applicants should enclose three journalism samples. The samples should be professionally published work that showcases your ability to tackle an in-depth story in the proposed medium. Please also provide a resume and references from two editors or others familiar with your work; if that is a problem, please contact organizers to discuss alternatives.

For more information visit McGraw Center.