Fellowship opportunities
The number of newsroom jobs across America has declined by half since 2008 as consolidation shifts newspapers’ priorities away from on-the-ground community reporting. With a generation of experience lost, restoring local journalism means rebuilding capacity. The Local Journalism Project offers both summer and winter journalism fellowships, editorial seminars, and reporting jobs. With those opportunities, we’re engaging a new generation in the work, ethics, and promise of excellent reporting.
Summer Journalism FELLOWSHIPs
at the provincetown independent
Each year, The Provincetown Independent hires a small group of college students to join its reporting team for a paid, 10-week summer journalism fellowship underwritten by The Local Journalism Project. It’s an experience that’s challenging and inspiring and also makes a big difference to the Outer Cape community the newspaper serves.
Now accepting applications for summer 2026.
If you live on the Outer Cape, please consider hosting a smart, hard-working young journalist next summer! Email us if you’d like to learn more.
How To APPLY TO Summer fellowshipS
What Fellows Do: Fellows join editorial meetings, where discussions about news coverage, what makes a good story, and what ethical challenges might be encountered in the reporting are addressed. They also take assignments and pitch stories to Indie editors. They practice the skills of the profession — tracking down facts, finding and interviewing sources, writing and rewriting. Guidance and debriefings with editors and peers help writers produce high-quality work that is published in the Independent.
Fellowship Eligibility: This is a special part of the world. The enormous natural and cultural resources of Provincetown and outermost Cape Cod are here for adventurous fellows to enjoy as a group and independently. This program is for up-and-coming reporters who have experience working for their college newspapers or have written for other publications. We expect fellows to have proven reporting skills and be ready to delve into our community as they go to work with the Independent’s award-winning team.
Fellowship Duration and Stipend: Fellows must participate in the full program, start to finish, and receive a stipend of $5,250 for the 10-week period, June 8 - Aug. 14, 2026.
Application Process: Applications to participate in our summer program for college students begins with candidates submitting a resume and a 500 word essay describing their trajectories as journalists. We also want to hear your goals and why this journalism fellowship interests you. And we want to see clips that provide evidence of your experience and skills. Click the “Apply Now” button below to use our online application form. Finalists are interviewed on a rolling basis.
Accepting applications now for summer 2026.
MARY HEATON VORSE WINTER FELLOWSHIP
The long stretch of winter on outermost Cape Cod is a rich time for civic life and creativity, and so a good time to explore life in a community newsroom like the one at the Provincetown Independent.
Mary Heaton Vorse, author of Time and the Town: A Provincetown Chronicle, is our muse for this program. Vorse was a pioneering journalist and civil rights activist who lived in Provincetown from 1907 to 1966.
With thanks to the Murray/Reese Foundation and to all of our donors whose generosity makes these journalism fellowships possible.
HOW TO APPLY TO Winter FELLOWshipS
We’ve made our selections for year.
We’ll start taking applications for winter 2026-2027 in the early fall of 2026.
The program welcomes two kinds of fellows:
In Community Reporting for a beginning reporter who wants to learn the nuts, bolts, and ethics of independent journalism in the Provincetown Independent’s award-winning newsroom.
In Community Journalism Leadership for an experienced reporter or editor who wants to practice the leadership skills involved in transforming or leading a community newspaper.
For both journalism fellowships:
A full-time 6-month commitment during the winter months
Competitive compensation
Housing provided in one of the outermost Cape Cod towns covered by the Provincetown Independent newspaper: Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, or Eastham.
The Mary Heaton Vorse Fellows work alongside the editorial staff of the weekly Provincetown Independent newspaper. They are also invited to participate in and write about a range of cultural and literary projects at the Mary Heaton Vorse House in collaboration with other scientific, literary, and cultural organizations on Outer Cape Cod.
We have selected our winter fellows for 2025-2026.
We’ll open the application process for next winter in early fall of 2026.