Deadline: January 20, 2020
Applications for the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism 2020/2021 are now open. O’Brien Fellows spend nine months reporting stories with the power to compel change. Backed by Marquette University and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, O’Brien helps news professionals dig deep while mentoring student journalists.
This is a reporting fellowship. If you are looking for a sabbatical, this is not the program for you. O’Brien fellows will leave after an academic year with a world-class project on a topic of state, regional, national or international interest.
Fellows are expected to:
- Work and travel from a home base in the O’Brien suite in the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fellows live in Milwaukee.
- Mentor and team with top Marquette journalism students in the pursuit of an investigative or explanatory journalism project.
Benefits
As an O’Brien Fellow, you will have the chance to:
- Report and produce an in-depth public service journalism project on a regional, national or international topic.
- Receive a $65,000 salary stipend and additional support.
- Work from the new O’Brien suite at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication near downtown Milwaukee and the Lake Michigan shore.
- Publish or broadcast the project through your home news organization or, in the case of independent journalists, another outlet.
- Integrate Marquette’s best journalism students into your projects as reporters and researchers.
- Help identify a journalism student for a university-funded summer internship at your organization after the fellowship.
- Tap into training in advanced investigative reporting skills such as data analysis.
Eligibility
- Applicants should have at least five years of professional experience and produce journalism regularly as an employee or freelancer.
- Applicants may be connected to print operations, radio, television, websites, podcasts, online publications, wire services, or magazines of general public interest. There are no academic prerequisites.
- Applications from international journalists are welcome.
Selection Criteria
- A proposal to produce a rigorous, multimedia public service journalism project with the potential to have major impact, lead to significant reform, and investigate and explain how individuals and groups can identify creative solutions to social problems.
- The ability to complete the project during the fellowship using Milwaukee as your primary home.
- The capacity to ensure the greatest possible exposure for the reporting once completed.
Application
There are three methods of application:
- Method 1 (Preferred): They provide space in their official online application form for you to link to your supporting files from a file sharing service such as Dropbox or Google Drive, or from your personal or company’s website. This allows the organizers to view your materials online.
- Method 2: If you are unable to send them a link to your materials, you may email them at [email protected] with the subject “O’Brien Application Materials: Your Name.”
- Method 3: As a last resort, they will accept physical copies of materials at the mailing address on the official website. These materials won’t be returned to you.
For more information, visit O’Brien Fellowship.
