MJ Bear Fellowship

The MJ Bear Fellowship identifies and supports digital journalists under 30 whose work represents the best of digital news. Applications for the 2023 MJ Bear Fellowship will run through April 27, 2023.

The one-year fellowship is designed to provide support and guidance to early-career journalists on a digital journalism project, as well as their own professional development. Themes for projects may include audience and social engagement, product development and digital or business strategy.

The fellowship provides:

Registration to ONA’s annual conference. Fellows get free registration to digital journalism’s largest event and opportunities to network and share their work. The fellowship covers registration, hotel and flights for ONA23, Aug. 23-26 in Philadelphia.

Three tailored coaching sessions. Based on the projects that fellows are working on and the skills they are looking to build, ONA works with industry leaders to design custom coaching sessions for the group. Past sessions have covered topics such as pitching projects, career advancement in a changing world, audience engagement, marketing and entrepreneurship.

ONA membership, with three years’ dues paid in full.

Additional opportunities to showcase work and expertise. During their fellowship year, fellows share insights from their projects and career journeys to ONA’s community. These insights become evergreen resources for the digital journalism community. See what fellows have been working on.

Each of the 2023 fellows will work on a project related to digital journalism over the course of their fellowship.

Eligibility:

The fellowship is open to working journalists under 30 who are leading a digital journalism project. Applicants in 2023 must be born between June 26, 1993, and June 25, 2000. Applicants can be working either for a company or organization or be self-employed. ONA encourages freelancers and journalists from diverse backgrounds to apply. Full-time students are not eligible for this fellowship.