2014 Carnegie-Knight News21 program deadline Nov. 10

The deadline for nominations to the 2014 Carnegie-Knight News21 program is Nov. 10.

Students accepted into this nationally acclaimed program, sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, receive an unparalleled experience working one-on-one with some of the best journalism minds in the country on in-depth and digitally innovative projects. Over the past four years, their work has received unprecedented national distribution and recognition, including page one stories in The Washington Post and top display on nbc.com as well as in many other news publications and websites.

Past News21 fellows have an employment placement record - both qualitatively and quantitatively - that is far superior to both the national averages and the placements of peers within their institutions. But we strongly believe that the program benefits far more than the individual students who participate. Schools that have been part of News21, with its emphasis on meaningful, in-depth reporting and experiential learning, have found the program a helpful tool in moving their curricula forward and promoting innovation.

We will be accepting a limited number of fellows for the coming program, which will begin in January of 2014 with a virtual seminar taught by one of the leading editors of our time: Leonard Downie Jr., longtime editor of The Washington Post. The seminar will immerse students in an important and timely topic – gun ownership in the United States, with a particular view of lobbying efforts on gun legislation and varying practices and policies in key states. We will make arrangements with students so they can follow the seminar remotely. Although students can take the seminar without charge (and without receiving formal academic credit unless their schools decide to allow independent study credit), students are expected to complete the seminar to Professor Downie's satisfaction before moving into the 10-week summer fellowship experience. During the summer reporting program, students will work out of a state-of-the-art digital newsroom at the Cronkite School in downtown Phoenix, traveling throughout the country as needed for the project.

All program costs are covered except $10,000 in salary and travel stipend for each fellow, which is covered by the participating school. Schools may nominate more than one fellow. Fellows for the 2013 project came from 12 universities: ASU, Central Michigan University, Florida International University, University of Florida, Kent State University, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon and University of Texas. Many of these fellows received additional support from a range of philanthropies and foundations that The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Peter Kiewit Foundation of Omaha, Neb., and Women & Philanthropy, part of ASU’s Foundation for a New American University.

You can find more about the 2014 News21 program and the application process at http://news21.com/jschools/. Applications are due by Nov. 10, and we will notify schools of placements by Dec. 1.

I also recommend that you take a look at the extremely impressive 2013 project on post-9/11 veterans (http://backhome.news21.com/). It has gotten widespread attention around the country and prominent play in many major national publications and I think is our best News21 project yet.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me, News21 administrator Kristin Gilger (Kristin.gilger@asu.edu).

Thank you for your interest.

Kristin Gilger
Associate Dean
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
602.496.9448
http://cronkite.asu.edu
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