$8,000 Movement Journalism Fellowship for Southern Reporters: How to Win the 2026 Press On Freedomways Reporting Fellowship

If you’re a reporter or storyteller obsessed with what’s really happening in the U.S. South—not just the headlines, but the power struggles, the organizing, the quiet wins and loud injustices—this fellowship is built for you.

The Press On Freedomways Reporting Fellowship 2026 is not a generic “professional development” program. It’s an eight‑month, deeply political, explicitly justice-oriented reporting fellowship for people who believe journalism should serve movements, not just institutions.

From March to October 2026, six fellows will get:

• A $1,000 monthly stipend (total $8,000),
• Ongoing mentorship from experienced movement journalists,
• Training in investigative skills and narrative craft,
• And editorial support to publish one substantial longform, investigative, or enterprise story.

The focus? Power. Specifically, power in the South—how it’s hoarded, how it’s challenged, how ordinary people are organizing to shift it. Press On is especially interested in reporting on:

• Environmental justice
• Reproductive justice
• Trans liberation
• Migrant justice

If those topics make you sit up a little straighter, keep reading. This is a competitive opportunity, but absolutely worth the effort.

Freedomways Reporting Fellowship 2026 at a Glance

What This Fellowship Actually Offers (Beyond the $8,000)

The stipend is nice. Let’s start there: $1,000 a month for eight months. For many freelancers and community reporters, that’s the difference between “I’d love to do this story someday” and “I can actually afford to dig into this story now.”

But the real value of this fellowship is the combination of money + mentorship + movement alignment.

1. A Realistic Financial Cushion for Deep Reporting

Movement journalism is rarely the most lucrative beat. This fellowship helps fill that gap:

• The monthly stipend supports your time to report, write, travel locally, and conduct interviews.
• There’s potential for additional expense funding—for example:
  • Public records fees,
  • Local travel for interviews,
  • Translation or transcription,
  • Data acquisition,
  • Photography or illustration support.

You’re not being asked to do a major investigative project “on exposure.” You’re treated like a working professional whose time and expertise deserve pay.

2. Hands-On Mentorship That Doesn’t Talk Down to You

Each fellow gets ongoing mentorship and check-ins with a mentor and the Freedomways coordinator. This is especially valuable if:

• You’re transitioning from daily news into slower, more community-rooted work.
• You’re a freelancer who usually works alone and craves editorial partnership.
• You’re a community storyteller who has the trust of your community but wants support shaping a longform investigation.

Expect mentors to help you:

• Narrow your idea into a sharp, focused story.
• Build a realistic reporting plan and timeline.
• Think about safety, ethics, and accountability to the communities you’re reporting on.
• Prep for pitching to outlets that will actually care about your topic.

3. Training in Both Skills and Politics of Reporting

You’ll participate in monthly trainings with journalists, storytellers, researchers, artists, and other experts.

The sessions cover things like:

• How to frame stories rooted in community power, not charity or tragedy.
• How to structure longform narratives that keep readers with you.
• How to dig for information—public records, data sets, sourcing strategies.
• How to design engagement plans so your reporting doesn’t just sit on a website.

This is not “neutral” journalism training. It’s grounded in movement journalism—the idea that reporting should support communities who are organizing for justice, not just hover above them with false objectivity.

4. Concrete Editorial Outcomes

You’re expected to publish one substantial story during the fellowship. Press On doesn’t just wish you luck and disappear; they help you:

• Refine your pitch for local, regional, or national outlets,
• Identify potential publication partners,
• Make connections that can carry beyond the fellowship.

At the end, you don’t just have “professional development.” You have a bylined, deeply reported story that reflects your values and your community.

Who Should Apply (And Whether You’re “Too This or Too That”)

If you’re unsure whether you’re a fit, you probably are. This program is intentionally broad about format and background, and specific about politics and geography.

Priority Regions

Press On is focused on power-building in the South. They prioritize applicants based in:

• Florida
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Arkansas
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Alabama
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Georgia
• Oklahoma
• Puerto Rico

You don’t have to currently live there if you are accountable to the South, meaning:

• You used to live in the region and still have deep ties, or
• You’re reporting on the South through continuous relationships, organizing networks, or community connections—not parachuting in for a one-off piece.

Types of People They Want to See Apply

Press On explicitly encourages these groups to apply:

• Community media workers

  • Reporters or editors at community or nonprofit outlets
  • Rural reporters who know their counties better than any national editor ever will
  • People working with worker-owned publications, collectives, or newsletters

• Storytellers and creative nonfiction writers

  • Essayists who write about power, identity, or collective struggle
  • Narrative nonfiction writers whose work is already in conversation with social movements
  • People who may not have the “journalist” label, but do reporting-adjacent work grounded in justice

• Freelance journalists

  • Independent reporters who want to go deeper on a specific local issue
  • Writers who’ve been pitching similar stories but haven’t yet had the time, money, or institutional support to do them right

• Mid-career journalists transitioning from legacy outlets

  • Reporters leaving traditional newspapers or TV and moving toward independent, community-driven work
  • People who want to unlearn extractive reporting habits and build a different kind of practice

Inclusion and Identity

Press On aims to strengthen journalism driven by people from marginalized and oppressed communities. They especially encourage:

• BIPOC reporters and storytellers
• LGBTQIA+ journalists (including trans and nonbinary reporters)
• Immigrant journalists
• Disabled journalists and storytellers
• People living or working in rural communities

If you’ve ever felt like traditional journalism fellowships weren’t built with you or your community in mind, this one likely is.

What Fellows Are Expected to Do

This program isn’t a passive “sit in on some webinars” situation. Fellows are expected to work—supported, not exploited.

You will:

• Develop a strong story pitch and reporting plan

  • Identify the specific issue, community, and angle.
  • Define your questions: What power are you examining? Who’s building it, who’s blocking it, who’s harmed?
  • Lay out a timeline and sources list.

• Attend recurring mentor check-ins

  • Show up prepared with questions and updates.
  • Use these meetings to troubleshoot access issues, safety concerns, or editorial dilemmas.

• Participate in monthly trainings

  • Some are mandatory, some optional—but the core idea is growth.
  • These sessions are a chance to learn from sharp people and build peer relationships.

• Develop an engagement plan

  • Who needs to see this story for it to matter?
  • Could you partner with local organizations, host a community conversation, or create a translated summary?
  • Think beyond “clicks” to real-world impact.

• Publish one longform, investigative, or enterprise story

  • This is the central deliverable.
  • By the end of the fellowship, your piece should be out in the world.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

This is where many people either rise or tank. Here’s how to give yourself a real shot.

1. Pitch a Story That’s Big Enough to Matter, Small Enough to Finish

Reviewers are looking for ambitious but doable projects.

Strong pitches usually:

• Focus on a specific issue in a defined community (for example, the impact of a new industrial project on a Black coastal town in Louisiana, not “climate change in the South”).
• Have a clear reporting plan: who you’ll talk to, what records you’ll request, what events or meetings you’ll observe.
• Show that you’ve already done some homework—prior coverage, community history, initial contacts.

If your idea feels like a book, narrow it. If it feels like a single feature you could draft in two days, deepen it.

2. Show Your Accountability to the South (Don’t Just Name-Drop a City)

If you don’t currently live in the South, this part is critical.

Spell out:

• Where you used to live, for how long, and what ties you still have.
• How you’re connected to the community you’re reporting on—organizing work, family, long-term relationships.
• How you’ll remain accountable to that community after publication (sharing drafts with sources for fact-checking, community follow-ups, events, etc., within ethical bounds).

Vague claims like “I’ve always been interested in the South” won’t cut it.

3. Make Your Movement Lens Explicit

This is movement journalism, not “interesting human-interest features.”

Clarify:

• Which movements or organizing efforts are connected to your story (tenant unions, abortion funds, migrant worker coalitions, trans mutual aid networks, etc.).
• How your reporting will center those most impacted rather than defaulting to officials and spokespeople.
• How your own politics, identities, or commitments shape the way you’ll approach the story—without making it all about you.

4. Explain Why You Need This Fellowship Now

Reviewers want to know: Why this program, this year, this story?

Address:

• What’s at risk if this story isn’t told now.
• How the stipend and mentorship will materially change your capacity to do the work (for example, “I currently balance three part-time gigs; this would let me dedicate consistent time to one investigation”).
• How this fellowship connects to your long-term goals as a reporter or storyteller.

5. Show You Can Actually Finish What You Start

A beautiful idea isn’t enough; feasibility matters.

Strengthen your case by:

• Mentioning previous longform work, investigations, or big projects you’ve completed.
• Showing that you understand the time demands of sourcing, trust-building, and fact-checking.
• Being honest about potential barriers (hostile officials, trauma, language access) and how you plan to work through them.

Confidence is good; overpromising is not.

6. Write Clearly, Not Academically

You are essentially showing them how you think and write.

• Use plain, sharp language.
• Avoid jargon unless you immediately explain it.
• Let your voice show, but don’t submit a stream-of-consciousness manifesto.

If your application reads like the kind of reporting you want to do—clear, grounded, and alive—you’re already ahead.

Application Timeline: Working Backward from December 1, 2025

You can absolutely sabotage yourself by starting too late. Here’s a realistic timeline.

By November 1, 2025 (one month out)

• Decide on your core story idea.
• Reach out to a couple of potential sources or community contacts to confirm the story is viable and wanted.
• Read prior coverage and identify gaps you can fill.

November 1–15, 2025

• Draft your story pitch and reporting plan.
• Write your personal or professional statement explaining who you are and why this fellowship is right for you.
• Ask a trusted editor, colleague, or organizer to read your draft and give honest feedback.

November 16–25, 2025

• Revise thoroughly. Sharpen your story focus; trim vague claims.
• Make sure you’ve clearly addressed: Southern accountability, movement alignment, feasibility, and impact.
• Gather any required bios, links to past work, or portfolio materials.

November 26–29, 2025

• Enter everything into the online form.
• Double-check spelling, links, and contact information.
• Step away for a day, then do one last read-through.

Submit no later than November 29
Yes, the official deadline is December 1, 2025, but don’t dance on the edge with tech glitches or internet outages. Aim to hit submit at least 48 hours early.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

The exact form fields may vary, but here’s what you should be ready to provide or adapt.

1. Story Proposal

Expect to describe:

• Working title or topic
• Central question or thesis
• Why this story matters now
• Who is most impacted
• How it connects to movement work or organizing

Preparation tip: Write this first in a document, not straight into the form. You’ll think more clearly and edit more easily.

2. Reporting Plan

This is where you prove you’re not guessing.

Include:

• Key people or groups you’ll interview (no need to name individuals if safety is a concern, but be specific about roles).
• Types of documents or data you’ll seek—public records, court files, corporate filings, etc.
• A rough month-by-month timeline for reporting, drafting, revising, and publication.

3. Short Bio or CV

Highlight:

• Work that shows you can handle complexity and nuance, not just quick hits.
• Experience with the community or topic you’re proposing.
• Any prior collaborations with grassroots organizations or community media.

Links to clips or writing samples will almost certainly help; choose ones that show both heart and rigor.

4. Statement of Identity, Values, and Motivation (if requested)

This is where you can talk about:

• Your connection to the South.
• How your identity or lived experience informs your work.
• Why you’re committed to movement journalism, not just “career advancement.”

Write it like you’re talking to a future colleague who gets what you’re trying to do.

What Makes an Application Stand Out to Reviewers

Based on how this fellowship is structured, strong applications will hit these notes:

1. Clear Movement Orientation

Reviewers are looking for:

• Reporting that supports communities building power, not just documenting suffering.
• Story ideas that highlight resistance, organizing strategies, policy fights, or creative survival—not just spectacle.

If your proposal centers cops, politicians, or CEOs more than impacted communities, rethink it.

2. Depth of Place and Relationship

Standout applications show:

• Deep familiarity with the region, its histories, and its ongoing tensions.
• Thoughtful attention to the relationships required for the story: trust, consent, safety, reciprocity.

They do not sound like a reporter dropping in to “cover” something fascinating and then disappearing.

3. Strong Writing and Original Framing

Even in application form, reviewers can sense:

• Whether you can frame a story in a fresh, grounded way.
• Whether your narrative instincts are strong—can you see scenes, tensions, turning points?

You don’t need flowery prose. You do need clarity and specificity.

4. Feasibility Within 8 Months

They’ll ask themselves:

• Can this person reasonably report, draft, revise, and publish this story between March and October?
• Do they have, or can they realistically build, access to the community and sources they need?
• Is the scale right for one fellow, not a newsroom?

If your idea depends on multiple lawsuits being resolved or sweeping national data that doesn’t yet exist, it may be too fragile.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (And How to Fix Them)

1. Being Vague About Your Story

Mistake: “I want to explore environmental justice in the Gulf South.”
Fix: Name a specific community, conflict, policy, or project—“I will investigate how a proposed petrochemical expansion in X parish is reshaping power dynamics between residents, local officials, and corporations.”

2. Treating Movements as Background Decoration

Mistake: Mentioning movements only in one sentence: “This connects to reproductive justice.”
Fix: Show how movements shape the story—“I will follow abortion fund organizers in Y city as they adapt strategies in response to new criminalization efforts, examining how they build safety networks under surveillance.”

3. Overloading on Academic or NGO Jargon

Mistake: A proposal that reads like a grant application for a think tank.
Fix: Use human language. If you can’t explain your story to a smart teenager, your application is probably too dense.

4. Ignoring Your Own Positionality

Mistake: Writing as if you’re a neutral, invisible recorder who has no stake or identity.
Fix: Briefly acknowledge who you are, how you’re coming to the story, and the steps you’ll take to report ethically and respectfully.

5. Submitting at the Last Second

Mistake: Hitting submit five minutes before the deadline and discovering your file didn’t upload, or your browser timed out.
Fix: Treat November 29 as your personal finish line. Protect your future self from unnecessary panic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be a full-time journalist to apply?

No. You can be:

• Freelancing part-time,
• Working in community organizing and also doing reporting,
• Writing essays or nonfiction that engage with social justice issues.

What matters is that you can commit to producing one serious, reported story during the fellowship.

Can I apply if I’ve never published an investigative piece before?

Yes. Prior investigative work helps, but it’s not a strict requirement.

You should, however, show:

• Strong writing skills, and
• Evidence that you can follow through on complex projects (long essays, zines, multimedia stories, etc.).

If investigation is new to you, emphasize your curiosity, your relationships in the community, and how you’ll use mentorship and training to build those skills.

Can I have another job while doing this fellowship?

Yes. Most fellows almost certainly will.

Be honest with yourself about time: Can you carve out consistent hours each week for reporting, plus time for check-ins and trainings? If you’re already working 60-hour weeks, you might need to adjust something to make this feasible.

Do I need a confirmed media partner before applying?

No. You don’t need an outlet locked in.

That said, it helps to:

• Mention potential outlets that might be a good fit, and
• Show you understand where your type of story typically lives (regional outlets, national magazines, movement-aligned publications, etc.).

Press On supports you in pitching to appropriate partners.

Can my story be multimedia (audio, photo, documentary)?

The fellowship is described around longform, investigative, or enterprise stories, which traditionally suggests text. However, movement journalism regularly crosses formats.

If you’re a primarily audio or multimedia reporter:

• Pitch the story in a way that makes sense for your medium, and
• Clarify how you’ll handle production within the timeframe and budget.

If in doubt, reach out to the program directly with a quick question before applying.

What if I don’t live in any of the priority states but am from there originally?

You can still be eligible if you are accountable to the South.

Use your application to clearly explain:

• Where you’re from,
• Your ongoing ties (family, organizing, community work), and
• Why you’re the right person to tell this story now despite not currently living there.

How to Apply: Concrete Next Steps

1. Read this article again with your notebook open.
   Jot down three possible story ideas and circle the one that scares and excites you the most.

2. Check your eligibility against the priority regions and criteria.
   If you’re in or accountable to the South, and your work or aspirations align with movement journalism, keep going.

3. Draft your story proposal and reporting plan.
   Aim for clarity over fancy language. Spell out what you want to do, with whom, where, and why.

4. Collect 2–3 clips or writing samples.
   Choose pieces that show:

   • Your ability to handle nuance,
   • Your respect for communities you write about,
   • And your storytelling chops.

5. Talk to at least one trusted person about your idea.
   This could be:

   • A local organizer,
   • A fellow journalist,
   • A community member you hope to feature.
     Ask: “If I reported this, what would be most useful to you? What should I watch out for?”

6. Give yourself an internal deadline 2–3 days before December 1, 2025.
   Protect your time and your nerves.

Get Started: Official Application Link

Ready to throw your hat in the ring for the Press On Freedomways Reporting Fellowship 2026?

Submit your application and read any official instructions or updates here:

Apply Now:
https://form.jotform.com/252935798928076

If you care about the U.S. South, about justice, and about stories that actually shift conversations—and possibly power—this is one of the rare fellowships that’s aligned with you, not just your résumé.