Journalists in Aging Fellows Program (United States)

Additionally, the program is structured to build three bridges: to connect working reporters with experts in the field; to link journalists new to the complex issues of aging with experienced age-beat reporters; and ultimately to channel reporters’ enhanced knowledge fortified by current research to their communities, in their own languages.

The media have largely ignored these emerging stories, and most communities are poorly informed about the challenges and opportunities of the longevity revolution. Ageism is pervasive. For 14 years, the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program has fueled coverage of crucial and sometimes complex issues at a time when most news organizations have no resources to assign a reporter to cover aging.

This program’s goals are to educate journalists about issues in aging, better allowing them to spread a new awareness to general audiences and ethnic or targeted communities (such as LGBTQ, disability, or gender-focused groups); and to disseminate accurate information about new scientific findings, policy debates, innovations, and evidence-based solutions.

Funding Information

• Each fellow will receive a stipend of $1,500, with $500 to be paid at the conclusion of the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting and the remaining $1,000 upon publication/airing of the long-term project. In addition, the program will arrange and pay for all flights and hotel bookings in Seattle. Following federal guidelines, qualifying local travel expenses (e.g., cab/rideshare, train, or bus fares) will be reimbursed; meals will either be provided or costs reimburse.

Eligibility Criteria

• All staff and freelance journalists are eligible to apply except for past recipients of this fellowship.

Requirements

• All articles must be published, broadcast, or posted through distributed or circulated news media entities rather than personal blogs, and will be required to include a note at the beginning or end crediting that it was written/produced with support from the fellowship. (Reporters will be provided text samples that may be adapted for different media.) The stories must reach an audience within the U.S.
• Short-term story: Fellows must produce an initial story of no less than 500 words (or comparable broadcast length) about any research-based aspect of aging. Although reporters may draw from the vast number of peer-reviewed studies and expert presenters available to them at the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting, they are not required to cite any aspect of the conference, and may develop their story from other verifiable research sources.
• Long-term project: Each fellow will submit a proposal (of one to two pages) outlining a major story or series that she or he intends to research and write. The story or series should be of the fellow’s own design, documenting and explaining a pressing issue that older adults and their families or communities are facing.

For more information, visit GSA.