Ida B. Wells Fellowship
Ends on March 13, 2022
Named after the pioneering Black investigative reporter, the Ida B. Wells Fellowship is designed to promote diversity in journalism by helping to create a pipeline of investigative reporters who bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and interests to their work. Winners are chosen by an annual competition.
For the 2022-23 cycle, Type Investigations will provide four fellows with a $25,000 stipend (including $20,000 in payments distributed on a monthly basis throughout the year, plus $5,000 in bonus payments paid upon completion of the fellowship project), and access to Type Investigations editors who will advise them throughout the process of producing their first substantial work of investigative reporting.
The one-year fellowship also covers travel and other reporting costs associated with the project and the costs associated with attending the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, as well as data training through the National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting. Each fellow will also enjoy access to research resources, legal counsel, professional mentoring, fact-checking, and assistance with story placement and publicity. The fellowship is a one-time educational opportunity and is non-renewable.
In 2022, we will select one Southern Ida B. Wells Fellow, who is 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. If you would like to be selected for the Southern Fellowship, please check the corresponding box within the application form.
Journalists of color are strongly encouraged to apply, as are other reporters who believe their presence would contribute substantially to diversifying the field of investigative reporting. The fellowship is open to entry-level or mid-career journalists.
The deadline for the 2022 application is Sunday, March 13 at 11:59pm EST. Please submit your application at least an hour prior to the deadline in case you experience technical issues. Late applications will not be accepted. If you choose to apply, you will be alerted the week of March 27 if your application has been advanced to the semi-finalist round of the process, and you will be asked to submit two letters of recommendation at that time. Finalists will be interviewed in April, and fellows will be chosen in May. The fellowship runs from June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2023.
We are looking for reporters:
- who have an ambitious investigation they want to pursue, a passion for holding the powerful accountable, and an appetite for digging.
- with the demonstrated ability to produce a narrative feature for print or broadcast.
- who would relish the opportunity to closely collaborate with editors.
- with the persistence, attentiveness to detail, and organizational skills to complete a major project within a set timeframe.
Fellows are strongly encouraged to publish or air their projects within one year of the start of the fellowship. Each project produced during the fellowship must appear in a U.S. media outlet. Both freelance and staff reporters may apply, but staffers must submit a letter from their editor agreeing to allow them at least one day per week to work on their fellowship story, and committing to co-publishing their investigation.
TIPS: Before applying, we encourage you to check out investigations Ida B. Wells Fellows have produced in the past and that you do a thorough search for previous reporting related to your story idea. Please be clear about how your project has the potential to uncover or expose something new and have real-world impact. If you have more questions, please refer to our FAQ.