The Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) is proud to offer a fellowship designed to empower early-career journalists and those new to the health beat who are eager to strengthen their health reporting skills.
Donor Name: Journalism & Women Symposium
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 12/05/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Open to women and individuals who identify as women, this fellowship offers a chance to build expertise at a moment when health has become a central thread in nearly every story. Today’s rapidly evolving health landscape means that journalists on every beat are, in many ways, health journalists, and the need for accurate, inclusive and representative reporting has never been greater.
In keeping with JAWS’ mission, this fellowship aims to advance the professional growth and empowerment of women journalists in health care reporting.
The fellows will receive
- A $4,000 stipend to cover project-related time and expenses.
- Mentoring by an experienced health journalist for the duration of the project and beyond.
- A 1.5-day in-person training, including a storytelling workshop for individual projects and panels led by seasoned journalists on key health reporting resources.
- Webinars on health reporting topics to help with their reporting projects and knowledge.
- A one-year complimentary membership to JAWS (a $75 value).
- Complimentary registration and travel expenses to the JAWS’ annual conference, CAMP (a $3,500 value).
Fellows will complete an in-depth project on a key health care theme, including but not limited to:
- Health equity/disparities
- Cost and quality of care
- Health care coverage and access
- Women’s health
- Health systems and care delivery
- Medicare/Medicaid
Selection Criteria
- The fellowship is open to U.S.-based journalists who identify as women, with 2 to 7 years’ professional health reporting experience. Staff reporters and freelance journalists are encouraged to apply.
- The projects may be reported in any format – audio, television, documentary, photojournalism, print, digital, podcast or any combination of multimedia – for a recognized U.S.-based media outlet.
Other criteria for applicant selection include:
- Clarity and originality of the proposed in-depth story projects.
- Quality of samples of published or produced work.
- Fulfilling the application requirements, listed below.
- Potential impact of the proposal geographically and across different ethnic or racial populations.
- A minimum of two years of professional experience as a journalist. Blogging, academic writing and public relations do not count toward journalism experience.
Requirements
- Fellows agree to meet with their mentor via phone or Zoom at least monthly to discuss progress.
- Fellows agree to participate in one in-person meeting (1.5 days), which will include guest speakers, brainstorming, how-tos, and time to meet one-on-one with their mentor and/or the project director.
- Fellows agree to attend/participate in up to two additional webinars throughout the course of the fellowship to deepen plans for covering their story and/or provide additional resources or sources.
- Fellows agree to present their final projects at a panel at JAWS CAMP in Fall 2026 and discuss their experience with attendees.
For more information, visit JAWS.
