Be a Knight Fellow! Applications now open

Do you have an innovative idea to help build a new future for journalism?

Would you like to spend 10 months experimenting, testing and creating your idea, leveraging the many resources of Stanford University and Silicon Valley — and get paid to do so?

Are you a journalist or journalism entrepreneur who wants to gain new skills and broaden your perspectives while collaborating with a group of 20 top-notch journalists from around the world?

Applications are now open for the 2013-14 class of John S. Knight Journalism Fellows at Stanford University.

Please Note: The U.S. deadline is two weeks earlier than previous years.

The deadline for international applications is Dec. 1, 2012; the deadline for U.S. applications is Jan. 15, 2013.

We are not a traditional sabbatical-style fellowship program and we are seeking a different type of journalist. We are striving to re-engineer journalism by focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership — and we need your help.

Who are great candidates for our program? People who take the initiative to make things happen. Journalists and journalism entrepreneurs who are curious and optimistic about the opportunities presented by the dramatic changes in journalism. People who want to create something that will help other journalists as well as themselves.

Fellows in our program work on solving problems, from leveraging technology to help journalism, finding new ways to reach underserved communities, seeking innovative ways to financially support quality journalism as well as fostering independent journalism in countries without a history of a free press.

We want journalists and journalism entrepreneurs who have a track record of accomplishment and are ambitious to do more; people who will make great use of a year at Stanford, in Silicon Valley and will keep innovating. We want journalists who we’ll be proud to call John S. Knight Journalism Fellow alumni in the years to come.

If you don’t see someone exactly like you on the list of recent fellows, don’t assume that you shouldn’t apply. Maybe next year it’s your turn to be a Knight Fellow.

We are seeking a pool of applicants who are diverse in all ways: race, ethnicity, media background, region of the country, regions of the world, perspectives and life experiences. We believe that a rich mix of fellows improves the fellowship class, and makes for better conversations and better solutions for journalism.

We expect this to be a transformative year for our fellows, one that changes their thinking, their career paths and their lives. It often is also a transformative year for spouses and partners of fellows, who are welcomed as Knight Affiliates to attend Knight Fellowship seminars and Stanford classes. Children of Knight Fellows can attend excellent Palo Alto-area schools.

What should you do now?

Read through our website, paying special attention to “Become a Fellow” and “Meet the Fellows”.

Review the application instructions and start gathering your application materials.

Find a mentor. Do you know anyone who has been a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford? Ask his or her advice up front; our alumni have the best perspective on the program. Don’t know anyone who’s been a fellow? Watch this space for opportunities to get advice.

Don’t wait until the last minute to apply! If you have questions, email us at info@kf.stanford.edu.

We look forward to reading your application and having you join us at Stanford to help create a strong, new future for journalism.

http://knight.stanford.edu/news-notes/2012/be-a-knight-fellow-applications-now-open/