The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) engages journalism professionals, organizations, scholars and communities in programs, tools, resources and workshops aimed at strengthening community-centered journalism through practical innovation.
The Challenge
There are many challenges facing the journalism industry today but one of the fastest growing is news avoidance. According to the Reuters 2024 Digital News Report, 4 in 10 individuals globally (39%) sometimes or often avoid the news. This is compounded by a huge percentage of individuals who get their news through social and aggregation platforms that also offer entertainment and other types of information, making it easy to avoid the news and information they need.
So, this year’s challenge: Create something to help journalists and newsrooms tackle the increasing rates of news avoidance to get vital information to the communities they serve. Is it changing the way we present, produce or create news? Is it the method, the delivery or the content? You decide!
How do I apply?
Apply here. Applications open October 2, 2024. Deadline to apply is November 4, 2024. Students and will be notified by email about fellowship interviews by November 22, 2024. Newsrooms will called by RJI to follow up on the application and discuss project possibilities prior to being matched with a student.
What is a 2025 RJI Student Innovation Fellowship?
A Mizzou journalism student placed with a news organization to work 30-40 hours per week in a summer RJI Student Innovation Fellowship. These fellowships are being sponsored by RJI’s Palmer Innovation Endowment fund. They must be focused on projects that create, extend or build upon innovative work in each newsroom and transparently share that work with the industry by publishing articles for the Innovation in Focus series to help journalists learn from and emulate the innovative work.
What do the student fellows receive?
Each student fellow receives a minimum stipend of $8000 and will be expected to work for 30–40 hours a week for 12 weeks, starting mid-May and ending mid-August. Organizations are allowed (and encouraged!) to supplement this stipend with hourly pay.
Payments from RJI are made in two parts. Half the stipend is paid at the beginning of the fellowship (within 30 days after their start date) and the second half is paid after all the student’s RJI deliverables are met.
Who are the 2025 newsroom & org partners?
These fellowships are designed for each student to work with a newsroom or journalism organization on innovative projects of mutual interest. Partner organizations are chosen based on their application and the availability of a student fellow whose interests match.
If you are a newsroom who would like to host a student fellow, apply here.
Do I qualify for a fellowship?
All current and soon to be recently graduated Missouri School of Journalism students are eligible and encouraged to apply.
Who supervises my work?
Each newsroom will be required to assign a mentor. The mentor will give the RJI Student Innovation Fellow regular feedback and provide guidance on projects. The mentor will also be the main point of contact with RJI on everything related to the fellowship.
In addition, the RJI program supervisor will meet with Student Fellows bi-weekly to make sure they are learning, supported and achieving their goals.
What am I required to produce for RJI?
Each student’s work will be highlighted in RJI’s Innovation in Focus series and newsletter. These 2-3 articles will be produced by the student fellow over the course of their fellowship to share their work and help other newsrooms implement the same innovation.
How are the RJI Student Innovation Fellows chosen?
RJI’s Director of Innovation Kat Duncan and Innovation in Focus Editor Emily Lytle will choose up to 10 finalists to interview before awarding the fellowships.
Newsrooms & orgs who are interested in hosting a RJI Student Innovation Fellow for summer 2025 should apply below.
Fellowship Guidelines:
- RJI pays the student fellows directly a stipend for their summer work but you are allowed (and encouraged!) to pay them an hourly wage in addition to their stipend if you are able to do so.
- The student fellow must work on 2-3 innovative projects or initiatives over the course of the summer which will be transparently shared with the journalism industry through articles they write for RJI. Students will not be doing traditional journalism reporting (writing articles, copy editing, covering daily stories etc)
- The RJI articles on their innovative projects will be published through our Innovation in Focus series on rjionline.org and in the IIF newsletter
- Every newsroom must assign a mentor who is willing to work closely with the student supervising their work and taking part in our fellowship program by attending the occasional meetings, joining our shared slack space and communicating with RJI on their progress.