MJ Bear Fellowship FAQ

The fellowship is designed for up-and-coming journalists between the ages of 23 and 30 who are just beginning to make their voices heard in the industry and who are working to expand the boundaries of digital news through ongoing creative and innovative projects. Fellows can be working inside or outside the newsroom, and we encourage freelance and independent journalists to apply.

The fellowship is open to digital journalists from around the world. In 2025, we will select six fellows. Applicants must meet the following requirements at the time of application:

• Born between June 30, 1995, and June 30, 2002
• Be a working digital journalist (either for an organization or self-employed); ONA encourages freelancers and journalists from diverse backgrounds to apply.
• Be fluent in English
• Be involved in a digital journalism project

Full-time students are not eligible.

• May 22, 2025: Applications open
• June 26, 2025: Applications close 11:59 p.m. ET
• July 2025: All applicants receive a response and 2025 fellows are announced
• Sept. 10-13, 2025: ONA25 Conference
• August–December 2025: Coaching sessions

There are five parts of the application:

1. The General Information section requests basic information to help us to learn more about you, including links to your digital presence and a resume uploaded as a pdf, and how to contact you regarding the status of your application. This section also requests a headshot/photograph, which would only be used if you are selected as part of promoting the 2025 class.
2. The next three sections are divided into three questions that follow a basic structure for a good pitch: why this, why now, and why me. In “why this,” describe a project, experiment, or idea that you’ve worked on or want to work on. In “why now,” explain why this is the right moment to get a boost from the fellowship. In “why me,” you will be asked for a personal statement about why you want to do this.
3. The final section is a letter of recommendation, which you will request from an employer, instructor or technology partner (not a personal friend or family member). Their letter should support your application by highlighting your potential to successfully implement your project/experiment/idea, and how you demonstrate the fellowship’s core values of innovation, creativity, and leadership. Be sure to provide them with details about the project/experiment you are sharing as part of this application.

Additional details are shared in each section of the application.

Benefits of the fellowship:

• Registration to ONA’s annual conference, ONA25, taking place in New Orleans Sept. 10-13. Fellows get free registration to digital journalism’s largest event and opportunities to network and share their work. The scholarship covers round-trip travel to ONA25, lodging at the Hyatt New Orleans for up to five nights, and a meal stipend during your travel.
• Three tailored coaching sessions. Based on the projects that fellows are working on and the skills they are looking to build, ONA works with industry leaders to design custom coaching sessions for the group. Past sessions have covered topics such as pitching projects, career advancement in a changing world, audience engagement, marketing and entrepreneurship.
• ONA membership, with three years’ dues paid in full.

The ONA conference is an excellent experience for fellows, not only for takeaways from sessions on everything from inspiring digital news trends to technical help and advice, but for expanding your network of experts and mentors that go way beyond the event itself. Your ONA membership also unlocks experiences, including participating in the AI in Journalism Initiative programming at no cost and an invitation to the ONA Slack community.

Repeatedly, we’ve heard feedback from past fellows that speaks to the transformational change that has happened as a result of their fellowship year. “Career changing” resonates most often in their comments. MJ Bear Fellows have told us how the fellowship — in particular, through their coaching sessions and recognition at the annual conference — has led to new career and project opportunities.

The project is an important part of the application.

• It needs to be something already started — not just an idea or a concept. We need to see something we can review.
• It does not have to be a completed project; indeed, those that focus on breaking news are going to be ongoing. It does need to be a project started on or after Jan. 1, 2024. The reason for the date is that it needs to be current — not something done two years ago as a graduate student thesis.
• The project needs to show creativity and innovation.

Themes for projects may include audience and social engagement, product development, and digital or business strategy.

You should explain how your strategy moves digital journalism forward or provides valuable lessons or outcomes. You can see examples from previous fellows’ projects here, and we strongly encourage you to take a look and see what kind of projects have resonated with our selection committees.

In the section asking you to explain your project, you may submit both a written and multimedia presentation, but a written description is required.

The recommendation form is a very important complement to the information you provide. It gives reviewers insights into the candidate’s abilities as a standout digital journalist. You should ask an employer, professional colleague or business partner who knows you and your work well enough to outline your demonstrated ability, particularly with respect to your involvement in your project.

Yes! The application needs to be in English, although the project itself could be in a non-English language. For that reason, the explanation of the project needs to be very clear.

This program is hosted by ONA and its staff, which is headquartered in the United States. We will do our best to be mindful of different time zones for those selected for the fellowship and will design our schedule to account for online learning styles. For international applicants, especially those in time zones opposite of Eastern time working hours, applicants should be aware they need to have some flexibility to work around U.S. time zones.

The fellowship is not open to full-time students, undergraduate or graduate. It is open to part-time students as long as they also are working, either for an organization or are self-employed.

Unfortunately, no. The fellowships are awarded to those who will be 23-30 at the time of the conference in order to focus on young digital journalists who have been working, but are still establishing themselves. We have to draw the line somewhere, which is why we specify a birth date range of between June 30, 1995, and June 30, 2002.. If you are too young to qualify this year, save the information and apply next year or are at a point when you have a project that qualifies.

The MJ Bear Fellowship Selection Committee is a volunteer team of digital media leaders, ONA affiliates and a member of MJ Bear’s family who review and select the fellowship recipients each year. They are looking for candidates who are developing projects that show spark, creativity and innovation.

The 2025 committee includes:

• Laura Amico, 2011 MJ Bear Fellow, MJ Bear Fellowship Chair
• Amy Eisman, Director, Journalism Division, School of Communication, American University
• Jake Carpenter, President of Carpenter Creative, Network Photojournalist (MJ Bear’s nephew and family representative)
• Jody Brannon, Digital News Strategist, Editorial Director, Educator
• Anne Saul, News/Video Consultant, retired Gannett News Executive

You will receive an automatic confirmation email when you successfully submit your application. All applicants will be notified in July.

This fellowship is designed to give you support on your projects and a chance to showcase your work to the digital journalism community. You should welcome feedback on your projects and be ready to take an active part in opportunities to connect with industry leaders and other fellows in your group during the coaching sessions. You’ll get the most out of your fellowship by being open to discussing specific goals and challenges that you’re facing with people who can give you guidance.

The program was established in 2011, in honor of ONA founding member and digital journalist pioneer MJ Bear, who passed away in December 2010. Since then, we have awarded over 40 MJ Bear Fellowships.

Founding ONA board member Mary Jane “MJ” Bear played key roles in ONA’s history, helping to incorporate the organization and serving on the Education, Fundraising, Conference and Legal Affairs Committees until 2003. She laid the groundwork for the creation of a fund to spotlight talented early-career journalists. Since 2011, the fellowship has identified and supported more than 40 MJ Bear Fellows who are producing cutting-edge work in digital media.

Learn more about MJ Bear.