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New York area teens: Learn about the New York Jewish Week fellowship here.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is pleased to announce the next application round of our journalism fellowship for high school-age Jewish teenagers.
We are accepting applications from young people (15-18 years old) who are interested in reporting the news of their community through a Jewish teen lens. We are defining “community” loosely here – school, neighborhood, identity, culture, hobbies. We want to hear how these parts of your life intersect with your Judaism and age-group.
You provide the story idea and we’ll provide the training and support required to help you produce a 750-1000 article.
This is a remote fellowship. Teens are expected to work independently and be on the hunt for the news in their communities and the world around them. We expect fellows to produce at least one piece during the course of the fellowship. Teens will be paid for published work.
We encourage teens of all backgrounds, identities, genders, cultures and connections to Judaism to apply.
Eligibility Requirements
- 15-18 years old
- Self-identified Jewish
- Interest in news media (online, audio, video)
- U.S.-based
- Journalism experience isn’t required
Fellowship Schedule
You have the option for applying for the Fall 2025 (Sept.-Dec.) or the Spring 2026 (Jan.-May 2026) fellowship. If you apply for both and you are not invited to join the fall cohort, you will be given the opportunity to update your application before the review process for the spring program.
During each fellowship, we will hold three virtual meetings – in the beginning, middle and end. All reporting, writing, revising will be done independently during the fellowship. Fellows’ deadlines and meetings will be determined on a story-by-story basis.
Before You Apply
This is not an activist or advocacy opportunity. Our newsroom’s goal is to report facts without bias and without making assumptions about our readers. Teen writers will be asked to do the same.
Read through these stories the past fellows produced. These will give you a sense of the type of articles we are interested in publishing. Keep this in mind as you fill out the application.
Watch this video about what we are looking for in a good story idea. Your story idea can make or break your application and we want to make sure you understand how to make sure your idea is newsworthy.
Payment
Fellows will be compensated with a $100 gift card for each story that JTA publishes.
Application
*Apply to the JTA Teen Journalism Fellowship today! Fill out the application here.*
Deadline
Early application deadline: 8/25; Final application deadline: 9/10. Applicants who submit by the early deadline can get feedback on their story idea and the opportunity to rewrite/resubmit it.
Questions?
Email teenjournalism@jta.org
About the Editor
The program is led by Katina Paron, MJE, who also runs the New York Jewish Week Teen Fellowship. For 30 years she’s helped create byline opportunities for young reporters and training for journalism teachers. She is the author of the comic book-style textbook, “A NewsHound’s Guide to Student Journalism” (McFarland) and was the senior project editor on The Trace’s award-winning national youth media gun violence reporting project, “Since Parkland.” She’s written about youth journalism for The New York Times, The Daily News, WNYC SchoolBook and more. You can find her on Instagram.
This fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the Norman E. Alexander Family G Foundation.
*Apply to the JTA Teen Journalism Fellowship today! Fill out the application here.*