Ida B. Wells Fellowship 2023 2023

Deadline: March 12, 2023

The Ida B. Wells Fellowship, founded in 2016, promotes diversity in journalism by helping to create a pipeline of investigative reporters from underrepresented backgrounds and bring those experiences, perspectives, and interests to their work.

The one-year fellowship helps reporters complete their first substantial work of investigative reporting by providing a $25,000 award and intensive mentoring from dedicated editors at Type Investigations. Fellows will also receive funds to cover travel and other reporting costs and the costs associated with attending the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference and an online data reporting boot camp. They will also enjoy access to research resources, legal assistance, and story placement and publicity assistance.

In 2023, we will select three fellows, including one Southern Ida B. Wells Fellow, based in and will report from North or South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas or Mississippi. The Southern Fellow’s work must appear in an outlet serving this region.

The fellowship honours Ida B. Wells, the pioneering Black activist and investigative reporter who, during the Jim Crow era, led the nation’s first campaign against lynching. Born into slavery and orphaned at age 16, Wells not only dispelled stereotypes regarding rape and lasciviousness that led to Black men and women being lynched but revealed that often these victims’ only “crimes” were threatening white supremacy through acts of resistance or achievement. She continued her reporting in the face of death threats.

Eligibility Criteria

Journalists of colour are strongly encouraged to apply, as are other reporters who believe their presence would contribute substantially to diversifying investigative reporting in other ways.

Application Process

You must apply with an investigative story proposal. While the proposal can focus on a story you’ve worked on (in fact, you should have done basic research and understand the issues at play relating to the story you want to tell), we won’t accept proposals for which most of the reporting and writing have been completed. The goal is for you to embark on an ambitious investigative reporting project with us from the start.

The 2023/24 application deadline is Sunday, March 12, at 11:59 pm EST. Please note that Daylight Saving Time starts on March 12 and submit your application at least an hour before the deadline in case you experience technical issues. Late applications will not be accepted.

You will be alerted at the beginning of April if your application has been moved to the semi-finalist round. If your application is selected for that round, you will be asked to provide two letters of recommendation. Staff reporters will also be asked to submit a letter of support from their editor. Finalists will be interviewed in April, and fellows will be chosen in May. The fellowship begins June 1, 2023, and ends May 31, 2024.

Application Registration Deadline: 12th March 2023

To Apply: Click here

Official Website: Click here