AAJA offers the following fellowships for our professional members. You must be a current AAJA member to apply for these programs. For more information on any of these programs, contact Albert Lee, Professional Programs Coordinator at (415) 346-2051, ext. 107 or e-mail Albertl@aaja.org.
Knight-Poynter Fellowship
A grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is providing AAJA members tuition scholarships for training through the Poynter Institute. Read more about the Knight Foundation's support for AAJA and Poynter training for AAJA members here.
The scholarships apply to Poynter training on-site and online. Those applying to Poynter seminars will need to indicate, in the section on paying for the seminar, that they are applying for a Knight-Poynter Fellowship through AAJA. Those applying for the institute's News University online courses and webinars will check a box to indicate their AAJA membership. If selected as a Knight-Poynter Fellow, those who receive the tuition awards will be required to blog about their experience, fill out a post-training Web survey and add their email address to the Knight alumni network.
Limited financial assistance, decided on a case-by-case basis, to help with transportation or accommodation costs related to the Poynter training may be available. Download the list
of current Poynter Program offerings here.
An application for Poynter Seminars is located here.
A list of News U programs is located here.
For more information contact Albert Lee at AlbertL@aaja.org.
AAJA/Newspaper Association of America Foundation Minority Fellowship
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation offers minority fellowships for newspaper journalists to attend the annual Executive Leadership Program, taking place March 10-14, 2010 in New York City, as well as other newspaper management programs. Applicants should be full-time employees of a newspaper organization. The fellowship covers seminar registration fees, travel, meals and hotel expenses.
The deadline has passed.
Marian Liu, arts and entertainment reporter for The Seattle Times received the AAJA/NAA Foundation fellowship to attend ELP in 2009. Read about her experiences in the program here.
AAJA/Poynter Institute Fellowship
AAJA, in partnership with The Poynter Institute, offered two fellowships for 2009. AAJA members applied for any of 18 courses in topics ranging from multimedia to infographics, producing to copy editing. Applicants were full-time employees of a print, broadcast or online news organization, or journalism educators. Freelancers were welcome to apply. The selected fellows had transportation costs to The Poynter Institute covered by AAJA. Tuition was covered by Poynter. Hotel costs were the responsibility of the fellows. The Poynter Institute is in St. Petersburg, FL.
Sue Kwon, a reporter for CBS5 in San Francisco, has received an AAJA/Poynter Institute Fellowship to attend a "Best Practices in Multimedia Journalism" seminar November 2-6, at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. Kwon, a veteran reporter has received two Emmy Awards as well as three AAJA National Journalism Award. Read about Kwon's experience in the program here.
Suzanne Phan, a multimedia journalist for News 10 in Sacramento, CA., received an AAJA/Poynter Institute Fellowship and attended a "Backpack Journalist" program, which took place June 1-5, 2009 at the Poynter Institute. Read about her experiences here.
AAJA Poynter Fellow Bobby Calvan shares his thoughts on attending a "Narrative Writing on Deadline" seminar on July 13-18, 2008.
6:28
For more information contact Albert Lee at AlbertL@aaja.org.
Knowledge@Wharton Business Journalism Fellowship
This fellowship, provided by SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, allows one AAJA member the opportunity to attend the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists, which takes place October 10-13, 2010. The program is designed to enhance the quality of minority journalists and covers the cost of tuition, materials and meals. The winning fellow must cover their own travel to and from Philadelphia as well as their lodging. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is a leader in helping journalists build a foundation of business and economic knowledge upon which they can draw as they communicate these complex issue to their readers. For over 35 years, the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists have provided nearly 2,000 members of the media insight from Wharton faculty into topics such as financial markets, accounting principles, corporate strategy, and the global economy.
Any current 2010 AAJA member who is a reporter, editor or producer (including freelancers) currently living in the United States or Canada and working in business journalism or a field that overlaps, such as healthcare or technology was eligible to apply. Applicants must be available to attend the Wharton program this year. Individuals with two to seven years of experience as a business reporter or those new to business reporting, but with five to 10 years of experience as a reporter in another field, were encouraged to apply. Freelancers were welcome to apply.
The deadline to apply is September 3, 2010. More information and an application is located here.
Sanjay Bhatt, a reporter at The Seattle Times, has received the Knowledge@Wharton Award and will attend the Wharton Seminar for Business Journalists, program which takes place October 18-21, 2009. Bhatt is the AAJA Seattle chapter co-president and a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program Class of 2006 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Read about his experiences in the program here.
Click here for a list of recipients of the scholarship, which is administered by SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association.
More information about the 2008 AAJA Wharton program winner is located here.
The 2008 Knowledge@Wharton scholarship took place October 12-15, 2008. Erik Ortiz, business reporter for The Press of Atlantic City, received the 2008 Knowledge@Wharton Award. See all the winners of last year's award. For more information about the 2009 program, go here. For other questions, contact Albert Lee at AlbertL@aaja.org.
AAJA Fellowship
AAJA offers a fellowship to members to help attend short-term professional training and skills development programs. Grants of up to $1,000 are offered to provide assistance with tuition, travel, food, lodging and other program-related expenses. Applicants must be full or associate members with at least three years of professional experience. Applications are accepted year-round.
AAJA is not accepting applications at this time.
AAJA Business Fellowship
AAJA offers business fellowships to members interested in developing a better understanding of the collective challenges of running a newspaper or media company. Previous fellowships took place at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and The New York Times.
The AAJA Business Fellowship is ideal for journalists who want to explore a move to the business side of the industry, and business side veterans wanting to explore areas beyond the boundaries of their department. The fellowship will create a better understanding of the collective challenges of running a newspaper/media company. The program will provide cross-department exposure to people in the newsrooms as well as those working in the business side wanting to gain a better understanding of the media industry's "big picture." Participants can expect to observe and learn about the operations in production, marketing, advertising, circulation and distribution. Through this exposure fellows will learn about opportunities outside of their respective areas.
Read about previous business fellowships at The New York Times and St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Professional Opportunities
AAJA offers diverse workshops as well as seminars by media organizations, one-on-one critiques and career counseling by print and broadcast journalists and career counselors, as well as a career fair and expo with media companies and organizations.