DEADLINE: High Country News Fellowships

High Country News, an award-winning magazine covering the communities and environment of the Western United States, seeks applicants for our year-long fellowships. The fellowship is designed for early-career journalists interested in providing on-the-ground reporting, diving deep into important stories, and helping to evolve and expand HCN's coverage of the West, with an emphasis on stories from and for communities typically underrepresented in the media. The fellowship will provide training, professional mentorship, and career development in journalism best practices as well as research and fact checking.

The program will run from January 2025 to December 2025 and includes coaching and instruction from across HCN's editorial and art departments. Fellows will produce reported stories, analysis, essays and/or other types of projects, as well as contribute research and fact-checking services for front of book reportage.

We plan to hire three fellows for the 2025 program year.

The Virginia Spencer Davis Fellow will bring a desire to report on rural communities in the West, and how those communities are changing.

The Indigenous Affairs Fellow will ideally have lived experience as a person of Indigenous identity and/or a sophisticated understanding of Indigeneity, and an interest in reporting on Indigenous communities and issues.

The Climate and Science Fellow will have an interest in covering the future of the West under our changing climate, including climate justice, the green energy transition, ecosystem resilience, climate mitigation, scientific research and more. All three will approach their work with curiosity and fair-mindedness.

High Country News is part of a growing number of newsrooms addressing a historic lack of representation, inclusion and equity in journalism with effective solutions. We welcome applicants from all life experiences and encourage members of traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to apply, including Indigenous people, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people and those from marginalized and low-income backgrounds.

Working hours are flexible but fellows should expect to work approximately 40 hours each week. Fellows are paid on a bi-weekly basis at $20.82 an hour, and receive a work-from-home allowance of $46.15 bi-weekly and a one-time signing bonus of $1,000 intended to help defray the cost of IT equipment. In addition, this position is eligible for healthcare benefits starting on the first of the month following 60 days employment. Paid vacation, sick leave and holidays are included.

This position is remote and open to candidates who reside in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington or Wyoming. The HCN editorial team is dispersed across the Western U.S.; our headquarters is in Paonia, Colorado.

Details and application.