Introduction

The MIT Environmental Solutions Journalism Fellowships 2025 is a program that supports freelance and staff journalists in developing high-impact news projects that report on climate change and the shift to a low-carbon economy. The program aims to localize climate change impacts and actions, engaging audiences in climate solutions. The fellowship prioritizes projects that focus on climate solutions within the food and waste systems, including food waste and methane emissions in waste management.

Scope of Work

The fellowship supports projects that relate climate change, the shift to a low-carbon economy, and climate solutions within food and waste systems to the audience's existing priorities and values. The projects should focus on the newsroom's home county(ies) or state, feature lived experience and local perspectives and voices, and clearly indicate the applicant's understanding of their audience and local concerns. The projects should be investigative or explanatory, producing a longform feature or a series of at least four shorter pieces. The projects should open local conversations about climate change solutions and empower the audience to engage with this issue.

Eligibility

The fellowship is open to staff writers of U.S. newsrooms or freelance journalists associated with a sponsoring newsroom. Newsrooms can include newspapers, news magazines, broadcast stations, digital news outlets, and investigative journalism organizations. Writers employed by or writing for think tanks, lobbying groups, or advocacy groups are not eligible. Applicants should have proven journalism experience, the ability to report and execute a complex project in their proposed medium, and a strong background or reporting experience in the subject.

Budget and Duration

The fellowship provides a stipend of $10,000 plus up to $5,000 for qualified expenses, such as travel, multimedia development, and hosting an event. The duration of the fellowship is not explicitly mentioned in the provided document.

Additional Information

The fellowship is committed to working with rural, hydrocarbon-producing, and marginalized communities across the United States. Judges will consider this when selecting fellowship placements.

Key Dates

The application deadline is October 14, 2024, 11:59 PM ET.

Application Process

Qualified applicants can submit their application using the provided submission form. The application includes the following:

• Resume/CV

• One-page cover letter introducing the applicant, their proposed project, qualifications, and reasons for seeking fellowship support

• A letter of recommendation and commitment from a news editor pledging that the news outlet will publish the feature/series

• Up to three samples of the applicant's best and most relevant work published during the past 24 months

• A two- to three-page project proposal outlining the project, including a plan for incorporating the required project features, a description of the makeup and size of the audience, how the project will engage Americans in parts of the country where climate change is disputed, controversial, or underreported, what kinds of expertise, information/data, and multimedia content the applicant would like to have access to/include, disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest, a proposed budget for the $5k expenditure, and an optional audience engagement component.

For More funding Opportunities, Visit Global Funding Opportunities.