JournalismAI Fellowship Programme for Journalists and Technologists

The aim of the JournalismAI Fellowship Programme is to provide a safe space where fellows can explore and experiment with new ideas, away from the constraints of their day-to-day work.

Up to 30 journalists and technologists will be selected to join the Fellowship cohort and work together over the course of seven months (April to November).

Funding Information

• They have allocated around GBP 6,000 per project to support research and project development expenses.
• The money is not a stipend or compensation (you are not expected to leave your job to participate in the Fellowship Programme).
• Additionally, all mentors will receive GBP 500 for the eight hours they will spend supporting your work.

How does the Fellowship programme work?

• The JournalismAI Fellowship Programme is participant-driven. Each team will organise and develop its work independently during the seven months, with guidance from the JournalismAI team and regular check-ins with the rest of the cohort.
• Each team will be provided with a coach/mentor, identified in coordination with the JournalismAI team, and will receive access to JournalismAI’s global network of experts, researchers, and innovators in the field of AI-journalism.
• Over the seven months, the teams will be guided through phases of definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing. The goal is to work together towards building GenAI-powered solutions that enhance journalism, its processes and systems.
• At the end of the programme, participants will present their work – and what they have learned from it – at the fifth edition of the JournalismAI Festival.

Eligible Projects

• They are looking for project proposals that focus on building GenAI-powered solutions that enhance news reporting or newsroom systems and processes. They particularly like ideas that innovate content and formats to better inform audiences. They are not interested in projects focused on purely business solutions.
• This is not a reporting grant to develop a single investigation. Projects should be aimed at prototyping a tool or a methodology that can have a systemic impact on news production – for example by making the reporting of a specific beat more accessible or impactful.

Eligibility Criteria

• They invite applications from candidates working in news organisations anywhere in the world.
• If you are an editorial or technical person working in a news organisation, you are eligible to apply. You can apply either as a pair i.e. one editorial and one technical colleague, or, as an individual applicant.
• All candidates must have some experience working on products and/or stories that involve the use of AI technologies.
• Regardless of whether you apply separately, or in pairs, you must form a team with an equal split of editorial and technical candidates in order to be eligible for final selection. You may form teams of four fellows or six fellows with an equal split between editorial/strategic and technical fellows.
• Fluency in English is required.

For more information, visit LSE.