New York Jewish Week Teen Journalism Fellowship

New York Jewish Week is pleased to announce the next application round of our journalism fellowship for high school-age Jewish teenagers.

This is a wonderful opportunity for NYC-based teens to report on news, events and culture within the largest and most diverse Jewish community in the country. Stories can include anything from teens learning Yiddish at the Cloisters to a teen production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Coney Island

We are accepting applications from 15-18 year olds in New York City 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 Jewish identity and age-group.

You provide a story idea and we’ll provide the training and support required to help you produce a 500-750 word article or short (90 sec-2 min.) multimedia piece (video, photo, audio).

This is primarily a remote fellowship, though there are two mandatory in-person meetings. 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 two pieces during the course of the fellowship. Teens will be paid for published work.

We are specifically looking to build a diverse fellowship cohort. 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)
• Lives in New York City (five boroughs only)
• Journalism experience isn’t required
• We are specifically looking to build a diverse fellowship cohort. We encourage teens of all backgrounds, identities, genders, cultures and connections to Judaism to apply.

Non-New York City teens are invited to apply to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Teen Journalism Fellowship.

Fellowship Schedule

The fellowship will run Jan.-May. 2025. We will hold two in-person meetings – in the beginning and end – and one virtual meeting. 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 teen fellows produced for the JTA fellowship. The NYJW stories will be similar but all will have a New York focus and can have a more playful, casual tone, though fact-based reporting remains essential. 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 paid a $100 gift card for each story that NYJW publishes.

Application

*Apply to the NYJW Teen Journalism Fellowship today! Fill out the application here.*

We are accepting applications through Fri., Jan. 10, 2025.

Questions? 

Email teenjournalism@jta.org

About the Editor

The program is led by Katina Paron, MJE, who also runs the JTA Teen Journalism 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 NYJW Teen Journalism Fellowship today! Fill out the application here.*