Join our Team

Join Our Team

The nationally acclaimed Carnegie-Knight News21 program, created by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is open to all journalism schools in the United States. Applications for the 2025 program are now open.

How It Works:

During the spring semester, students take part in a News21 issues seminar taught by Pauline Arrillaga, News21's executive editor. The seminar immerses students in the topic to be investigated by News21 in the summer and students do preliminary reporting. Fellows from schools outside of ASU participate in the seminar via Zoom. Non-ASU students may take the course for credit through their universities or join the course without enrolling. However, all fellows must fully participate and complete all work to the professor’s satisfaction. This year, the course will take place from Jan. 16 through May 1, 2025. It is held on Thursdays for three hours – from 10:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Pacific time.

During the summer, fellows work full time out of a digital newsroom at the Cronkite School for 10 weeks, beginning in late May and ending in early August. Fellows receive an $8,000 stipend (subject to taxes) plus funding to travel to and from Phoenix and to report across the country.

Students work under a team of veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning editors to produce deep, multimedia reporting on a topic of national impact. See the 2024 project – “Fractured” – here. Previous investigations have focused on the reversal of Roe v. Wade, hate groups, drinking water, police reform, health disparities, juvenile justice and gun rights, among other topics.

Costs:

The total cost to participating schools is $12,000 per fellow. This covers salary and summer travel stipends for fellows.

How to Apply:

Applications should come from the school’s dean or director, not from individual students, by Nov. 8, 2024. 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 rebecca.blatt@asu.edu.

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 scholarship 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 rebecca.blatt@asu.edu.

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 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.

For More Information:

Contact Senior Associate Dean Rebecca Blatt at rebecca.blatt@asu.edu