Grist Fellowship Program

Website: Grist Fellowship Program

Description

Want to grow as a journalist while absorbing a universe of environmental knowledge?

The Grist Fellowship Program is a paid opportunity to hone your skills at a national news outlet and deepen your understanding of environmental issues. The experience is designed to give early-career journalists with a demonstrated interest in environmental issues the experience to succeed in climate and environmental media. We offer real-world experience at a fast-paced news site, training in a variety of skills key to a journalism career, and exposure to the leading sustainability thinkers and theories of our time.

After a year of working full-time at Grist and gaining key skills in environmental journalism, fellows have gone on to outlets including The Atlantic, Capital B, The Verge, Wirecutter, Outside, Atlas Obscura, Greentech Media, and of course, Grist. 

Eligibility

Grist aims to help train the next generation of environmental journalists and storytellers. The Grist Fellowship Program is designed to provide newsroom experience for early-career journalists who have a demonstrated interest in environmental and climate journalism and media. Maybe you already have a journalism fellowship or two under your belt, and now want to pivot toward environmental reporting. Maybe you’re a scientist with strong writing chops who wants to reach new audiences. Perhaps you recently graduated from journalism school, or ran your school paper while you were in undergrad. You might even be a freelancer with several years of reporting experience, looking to learn what it’s like to work in a newsroom environment.

 

Student Type
  • senior
  • graduate
Citizen Type
  • US Citizen
  • Permanent Resident
  • International or Other Visa Status
  • Undocumented
Procedure

Applicants must submit the following in one PDF attachment:

1. A resume and cover letter. We are looking for a succinct, thoughtful cover letter that displays your qualifications, enthusiasm, and communication style.

2. Pitch two short-form story ideas for the Grist website. These stories would fall into the Gristmill or Grist List sections. Each story idea should be a brief paragraph.

3. You got the assignment! Pick one of the ideas you pitched in the above section and write the actual story. The story should run no longer than 400 words. Please include a link to an image or video that you would run with the story. (Note: We do not intend to publish this assignment, so don’t worry about whether you have the rights to the image or video.)

4. Pitch a feature story idea. What aspect of the environmental/sustainability story are you passionate about covering? How would you explore that passion in the form of a feature story for Grist? Please specify how you would approach the feature, including target sources, length and format, potential angle, multimedia aspects, etc. Pitch should be no longer than 300 words.

5. Three samples of your work. Writing samples can be newspaper or magazine clips, blog posts, or unpublished pieces. We will gladly accept links to multimedia samples (video, illustration, infographic, podcast, etc.), but cannot review original files.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Applications should be emailed to fellowships@grist.org. Please include all materials in one PDF attachment. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Contact Information

You can write to us anytime at fellowships@grist.org if you have general questions. We’d welcome the chance to be in touch!