Call for Applications!
JAWS 2026 Health Reporting Fellowship
The Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) is proud to offer a fellowship designed to empower early-career journalists and those new to the health beat who are eager to strengthen their health reporting skills.
Open to women and individuals who identify as women, this fellowship offers a chance to build expertise at a moment when health has become a central thread in nearly every story. Today’s rapidly evolving health landscape means that journalists on every beat are, in many ways, health journalists, and the need for accurate, inclusive and representative reporting has never been greater.
In keeping with JAWS’ mission, this fellowship aims to advance the professional growth and empowerment of women journalists in health care reporting.
Made possible through the generous support of the Commonwealth Fund, we have opened applications for the 2026 cohort.
Apply at the link below and scroll down for more details.
The application deadline is
Friday, December 5, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET
Questions?
Contact Liz Seegert, project director, at liz@jaws.org
The fellows will receive
A $4,000 stipend to cover project-related time and expenses.
Mentoring by an experienced health journalist for the duration of the project and beyond.
A 1.5-day in-person training, including a storytelling workshop for individual projects and panels led by seasoned journalists on key health reporting resources.
Webinars on health reporting topics to help with their reporting projects and knowledge.
A one-year complimentary membership to JAWS (a $75 value).
Complimentary registration and travel expenses to the JAWS’ annual conference, CAMP (a $3,500 value).
Fellows will complete an in-depth project on a key health care theme, including but not limited to:
Health equity/disparities
Cost and quality of care
Health care coverage and access
Women’s health
Health systems and care delivery
Medicare/Medicaid
The fellowship is open to U.S.-based journalists who identify as women, with 2 to 7 years’ professional health reporting experience. Staff reporters and freelance journalists are encouraged to apply.
The projects may be reported in any format – audio, television, documentary, photojournalism, print, digital, podcast or any combination of multimedia – for a recognized U.S.-based media outlet.
Applicants must submit a complete fellowship application by 5 p.m. ET, Friday, December 5, 2025. Fellows will be selected by December 31, 2025. Selected fellows will be publicly announced in early January 2026.
Other criteria for applicant selection include:
Clarity and originality of the proposed in-depth story projects.
Quality of samples of published or produced work.
Fulfilling the application requirements, listed below.
Potential impact of the proposal geographically and across different ethnic or racial populations.
A minimum of two years of professional experience as a journalist. Blogging, academic writing and public relations do not count toward journalism experience.
Application requirements
A detailed 1 or 2-page proposal describing the reporting project you wish to undertake and why. The proposal must include sourcing to indicate that you have done some homework on the topic.
A proposed project timeline, including projected publication/broadcast dates.
Current resume (2 pages max).
Link to profile, including website or LinkedIn.
A cover letter containing:
Applicant name.
Mailing address.
Mobile phone.
E-mail.
Employer (Freelance journalists should specify their length of affiliation with the outlet that will publish or broadcast the story.)
Employer address and phone number.
Employer’s circulation and audience demographic (Please indicate whether this media outlet serves a general audience or a specific ethnic or other minority community.)
Direct editor contact – email and phone.
No more than three reporting samples – either clips, audio/video stories, or multimedia samples – which can be attached as pdf files, or links to files on the applicant’s or media outlet’s website. Please be sure all links work properly prior to submitting the application and are not behind a publication paywall.
For staff reporters: A letter of support from a supervisor or editor at your current media outlet, affording you time off and editorial support to work on the project.
For freelance journalists: Freelance journalists must pre-pitch their idea to a media outlet and obtain written confirmation (letter or email) from the assigning editor, indicating willingness to support the project, provided it meets appropriate editorial criteria.
Freelancers who do not have a confirmed media commitment will be considered based on the strength of their proposal. However, they must include a list of 2 to 3 potential media outlets and editors where they plan to pitch their long-form story.
An optional letter of recommendation, which speaks to the quality of work and commitment to the project and/or health reporting. Please do not include letters from friends/family. Not submitting a letter of recommendation will not affect your application review.
Here are two tip sheets to help you with submitting an outstanding fellowship application.
Selection criteria
Fellowship Requirements
Fellows agree to meet with their mentor via phone or Zoom at least monthly to discuss progress.
Fellows agree to participate in one in-person meeting (1.5 days), which will include guest speakers, brainstorming, how-tos, and time to meet one-on-one with their mentor and/or the project director.
Fellows agree to attend/participate in up to two additional webinars throughout the course of the fellowship to deepen plans for covering their story and/or provide additional resources or sources.
Fellows agree to present their final projects at a panel at JAWS CAMP in Fall 2026 and discuss their experience with attendees.
Fellows agree to include a credit line in each piece referencing the fellowship and the support of The Commonwealth Fund. JAWS will provide sample credit line language to accepted fellows. This requirement is mandatory.
Fellowship Deliverables
One long-form story: Selected applicants agree to publish/produce a multi-part series, or long-form story (min 2,000 words or comparable air time) based on original research and reporting. The long-form reporting project must be completed by July 31, 2026, and published or aired by August 31, 2026.
One short-form story: Fellows must also publish/produce a short-form story related to their project or on any health-related topic listed above (approximately 750 words or comparable airtime), no later than April 15, 2026. This story does not have to appear in the same media outlet as the long-form piece.
