California Local News Fellowship, Reporting - School of Journalism

Overview

Position overview

Position title: California Local News Fellow

Salary range: The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by step lows salaries will start at either $60,000 or $65,000 depending on work and educational experience. All fellows will receive benefits from the University of California.

Percent time: Full-time

Anticipated start: September 2026

Position duration: The fellowship will start in early September 2026 and will run for two years, ending in August 2028.

Open date: February 3, 2026

Next review date: Wednesday, Feb 18, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Thursday, Mar 5, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

The California Local News Fellowship program is a multi-year, state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting in California.

The fellowship is open to digital, print, audio, photo and multimedia journalists. We welcome applications from graduates of two-year, four-year and graduate-level journalism programs, as well as people who have not attended journalism education programs but have a high school diploma or GED and at least three years of newsroom experience. Successful applicants will demonstrate core reporting skills, a commitment to a career in journalism, and interest in accountability reporting in underserved communities.

The program will place approximately 33 fellows in partner newsrooms throughout the state for two-year, full-time reporting positions beginning in September 2026. Fellows will receive robust training and mentoring from the program to augment their newsroom experience.

The fellowship program partners with newsrooms throughout the state that are seeking to meet their communities’ information needs with original local news coverage. We prioritize news organizations operating in underserved communities, including for-profit, nonprofit, public media, and community and media outlets. Once newsrooms and fellows are selected into the program, they are paired through a matching process that seeks to meet the needs of individual newsrooms and interests of fellows.

Newsrooms and fellows are selected through an equitable and transparent process, with input from the fellowship program staff and fellowship advisory board, which represents journalism education and newsroom leaders from around the state.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

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Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

High school diploma or GED (or equivalent international degree)

Fellows should have five or fewer years of professional journalism experience before joining the program.

Applicants must meet one of the following criteria to be considered:

• High school diploma or GED (or equivalent international degree) plus at least 3 years newsroom experience, OR
• 2-year associate s degree (or equivalent international degree) plus at least 1 year newsroom experience, OR
• BA or MA (or equivalent international degree) in journalism with experience in student publications, summer internships or equivalent, OR
• BA or MA (or equivalent international degree) in a subject other than journalism plus at least 1 year newsroom experience.

Ideal candidates will have experience working in local news, either professionally or through a journalism education program, and will submit clips that illustrate a variety of reporting genres and skills. In certain cases, when matching fellows with newsrooms, the ability to report in a language other than English and/or proficiency in specialized journalistic skills (audio, video, data, etc.) will be preferred.

California residents will be given preference.

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