About the Knight Diversity Initiative
The Knight Diversity Internship Program will be in session during the Summer of 2018. The program was made possible thanks to a generous John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant. The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism houses this diversity initiative; its goal is to address under-representation in U.S. newsrooms and build a stronger pipeline of academically excellent and digitally trained minority journalists.
Since the summer of 2015, Knight’s grant has paid for all expenses to bring 18 aspiring journalists to New York City for two months — June and July — to receive digital-journalism training and participate in media internships. The members of each cohort were also in the running for five full scholarships to earn their master’s degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, if they apply and are admitted to the J-School.
To be eligible to apply, applicants must have been:
1) Be rising seniors during the summer of 2018 or have received their bachelor’s degree in May 2016 or after that date.
2) In addition, applicants must be from senior colleges that are classified as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) or Hispanic-serving Institutions; or be members in good standing of one of the journalists of color organizations — including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) or the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA).
Those selected for the upcoming cohort receive:
– Free transportation to and from your hometown (within the U.S.) and New York City.
– Dorm housing at The Towers at the City College of New York if you don’t live in New York City.
– Unlimited Ride 30-day MetroCards, one in June and one in July, for use on the MTA NYC subway and bus system.
– One-week of digital-journalism classroom training from Newmark J-School faculty, with additional class instruction/reinforcement every Monday for the duration of the program.
– Placement in a seven-week, digital-media internship at news outlets throughout New York City.
– If the internship is unpaid, the intern receives a $3,000 stipend to help pay for summer living expenses.
– At the end of the summer, five of the summer’s top performers receive free tuition to earn their master’s degrees at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, if they apply and are accepted.
Want more information? Email Nancy Ayala, Knight Newmark-J program director, at nancy.ayala@journalism.cuny.edu