We’re extending the deadline to June 7 for applications for the 2013 MJ Bear Fellowships for early-career digital journalists, in honor of founding member MJ Bear.
Apply for the MJ Bear Fellowship
The search committee will select three promising, up-and-coming digital journalists — two in the United States or Canada and one internationally, in partnership with MSN International — who are just beginning to make their voices heard in the industry.
Selected Fellows will be paired with a digital news leader as a mentor; receive an expense-paid trip to the 2013 Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet (ONA13), Oct. 17-19, in Atlanta, where they’ll have a chance to share their fresh perspectives; and a free, three-year ONA membership.
Get tips for applying from past fellows and learn more about the impact the fellowship has had on their careers by reading their blogs and watching their videos.
Applicants must be working journalists between the ages of 23 and 30 and fluent in English. They will be asked to describe their recent concepts, experiments or projects that move digital journalism forward or resulted in valuable lessons or outcomes, and also provide a recommendation and a personal statement.
"The mentorship that [the fellowship] provided, specifically working with my mentor Tom Davidson [of PBS], really primed me to take advantage of the opportunities throughout the year," Laura Amico, 2011 MJ Bear Fellow and 2013 Nieman Fellow.
The Fellowship is a legacy of altruistic digital visionary MJ Bear, a leader in the online journalism industry and a founding member of ONA, who passed away in 2010. The goal of the Fellowship, in Bear’s own words, is "to promote the voices of young professionals working in or training to work in the field of online news by presenting programs at ONA’s annual conference, or in other venues. The programs will be designed to explore and showcase innovations, developments and new ideas in the field.