Fellowships
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About
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Reading List
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Awards
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Upcoming Campus Visits
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How To Apply
The Voice Media Group fellowship program presents an unparalleled opportunity for young writers who wish to pursue a career in local watchdog journalism.
The purpose of the program is to identify writers who have the potential to become full-time staff writers, but who, through no fault of their own, lack the experience to be hired into such positions.
Writing fellowships are six-month jobs. They pay $650 per week, with benefits.
Voice Media Group fellowships are writing and reporting jobs. Our fellows don’t do busywork, compile listings, go for coffee, or complete “research” for more experienced writers. Instead, they work intensively with an experienced editor/mentor to learn the basics of newswriting.
The fellowship program is a performance-based meritocracy. Fellows do not compete against each other for jobs, and there is no guaranteed wash-out rate. Instead, upon completion of their fellowship, fellows who have performed up to Voice Media Group standards are given first priority for any entry-level staff writing jobs available around the company.
Since the Voice Media Group fellowship program began in 1999, 87 people have accepted and completed fellowships. Of that number, 56 — or 64 percent — have been hired as staff writers.
Katya Schwenk, Phoenix New Times
Alex DeLuca, Miami New Times
Catie Chesire, Westword
Michael Murney, Dallas Observer
Elizabeth Whitman, Phoenix New Times
Hannah Critchfield, Phoenix New Times
Sara Fleming, Westword
Jess Nelson, Miami New Times
Meg O’Connor, Miami New Times
Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, Westword
Antonia Noori Farzan and Joseph Flaherty, Phoenix New Times
Isabella Vi Gomes, Miami New Times
Antonia Noori Farzan, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Jerry Iannelli, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Meagan Flynn, Houston Press
Meg O'Connor, Miami New Times
O'Connor won first place in the Investigative Reporting category of the 2019 Association for Alternative Newsmedia Awards for her series revealing that Miami police were continuing to throw the book at small-time pot users despite a general societal shift away from such "Reefer Madness" hysteria. O'Connor reported that over the past three years, more than 5,000 Miamians -- most of them people of color -- were sent to jail for possession of less than 20 grams of pot, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for cases that almost always were ultimately dropped by dubious prosecutors.
Antonia Noori Farzan and Joseph Flaherty, Phoenix New Times
Farzan and Flaherty’s investigative series revealing that Motel 6 was divulging guest lists to federal immigration authorities won them the 2018 George Polk Award for Immigration Reporting.
Meagan Flynn, Houston Press
Flynn's "Sorry for Life?" told the story of Ashley Ervin, a college-bound honor roll student who got involved with the wrong group of boys and ended up serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for capital murder. She didn't kill anyone, Flynn reported, but she drove home the people who did, and her case made her a poster child for the issue of whether it's time to reevaluate adult sentencing for juvenile offenders. "Sorry for Life?" took first-place in the weekly newspaper feature writing category of the 2017 Clarion Awards, second-place in the feature-writing category of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards, and was a finalist in the National Association of Black Journalists Awards.
Terrence McCoy, Houston Press
McCoy's "The Battle of Remington Lane" told the bizarre story of two multimillionaires feuding over an opulent Houston mansion. Could an oil-drilling magnate known as "the most powerful man in town" bully an affluent surgeon into handing over the $8.3 million jewel he'd just purchased fair and square? McCoy set out to find out, and wound up winning the 2013 Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Paul Kix, Dallas Observer
"Alone No More", about star hoopster Sandora Irvin's troubled path to the WNBA, earned Kix a first-place award for sports reporting in the 2006 NABJs.
Julianna Barbassa, Dallas Observer
Barbassa was a national finalist in the 2000 Eugene S. Pulliam National Writing Awards for her story "Children of the Storm."
Emily Bliss, New Times Broward/Palm Beach
Bliss took second-place in the 2001 National Education Awards for Education Reporting for her story "A Scout For Life."
Joel Warner, Westword
It's getting hard to keep track of Warner's plaudits. His "Pot of Gold", about international coffee freaks, was a 2008 National Finalist in the Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards; his "You Do the Meth", which described the effects of meth raids on families, was a finalist for the 2008 DART Award; his "The Good Soldier", about the first American G.I. to be charged with cowardice since 1968, was a 2009 DART finalist and also won first-place for feature writing at the 2009 AltWeekly Awards.
Isaiah Thompson, Miami New Times
"The People Under the Bridge", written by Thompson shortly after he arrived in Miami, was the 2008 First-Place Winner in the Local Circulation Weeklies category of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Awards.
Emily Witt, Miami New Times
"Band of Outsiders", the story of a Florida couple who had adopted 57 special-needs children, earned Witt a finalist slot in the 2007 Livingstons alongside Maher.
Jared Jacang Maher, Westword
Like his Denver colleague Warner, Maher has received multiple awards. He took second-place in investigative reporting in the 2009 AltWeekly Awards for "State of Emergency", about problems with the City of Denver's ambulance system. His "The Impersonator", the bizarre true-life tale of a man who successfully impersonated a paramedic, got him named a 2007 finalist in the Livingston Awards. "The Magic Number", which revealed that identity fraud on the part of illegal aliens was disproportionately affecting Hispanic Americans, was a 2008 National Finalist in the Missouri Lifestyle contest.
Michael Serazio, Houston Press
For his story "Gambling on Iraq,", which exposed the dangers faced by ordinary American citizens signing up for war-zone jobs in Iraq, Serazio was named a 2005 Livingston finalist.
Jennifer Mathieu, Houston Press
Mathieu was a finalist in the 2002 GLAAD Media Awards for her article "Positive Love", and took first-place in the 2003 Alternative Newsweekly Awards "Media Reporting" category for the story "Reality TV Bites."
As part of our annual fellowship recruiting process, we travel to college campuses for one-on-one interviews with applicants. Currently scheduled visits are listed below.
No campus visits are scheduled at this time.
We have now filled all of our 2022 fellowships. We will begin accepting applications for 2023 fellowships on October 15, 2022. Please email a cover letter, resume and writing/reporting samples to Voice Media Group executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde at the following address: