USC Annenberg announces new fellowship for journos

Staff reporters, affiliated freelancers and self-employed web journalists working in the States or abroad who cover politics, social and cultural issues are encouraged to apply, along with religion specialists and generalists. Successful applicants will be awarded stipends from $5,000 to $25,000 to subsidize travel, living and miscellaneous costs.

"The twenty-first century has seen an unprecedented movement of people across borders as well as the revitalization of experiential spiritual politics and the resurgence of religious politics," said Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion at USC Annenberg. "However, at the same time, reporters who want to pursue in-depth, investigative pieces told through multi-platform media often lack institutional support for their work. The Knight Luce Fellowship encourages working journalists to consider what these dynamics reveal about personal identity, political power, the nature of conflict and the construction of community and provides them with the means to report and distribute the story."

Within the six-month period of their fellowship, fellows will travel outside the U.S. to report stories that explore how religion, religious institutions, and religious people effect change in on-the-ground social, political and economic conditions. They might examine how ideas and ideologies circulate among home and diaspora communities or how religious and political coexistence and cooperation are promoted or inhibited. These stories will be developed for delivery on multiple platforms -- print, radio, TV, online. Finally, at the completion of their projects, several fellows will be invited to spend three days in residence at USC to present their work, hold master classes for journalism students, and give public lectures for the USC community.

More info or to apply.