Recruit
California Local News Fellowship, Reporting - School of Journalism
Position overview
Position title: California Local News FellowApplication Window
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.
Position description
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’re looking for candidates with relevant experience as much as formal education. 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.
Program: https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows/
School: https://journalism.berkeley.edu/
Qualifications
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.
Application Requirements
- Applicant's materials and any supporting files as part of the recruitment must be converted to PDF before they can be uploaded.
- Other acceptable media file types: zip, jpg, rar, tif, mov, bmp, 3gp, png, wmv, m4v, psd, swf, tiff, mp3, mp4.
- 50 MB is the maximum file size accepted.
- Do not upload any file that contains sensitive information (e.g. social security, drivers license, passport, or bank account numbers).
Resume / CV - Please upload a PDF of your educational and work history, including your journalism experience. This can be a formal resume or a simple list with dates.
Tell us about your journalism experience and fellowship preferences. - To complete your submission, you must also fill out the Supplemental Information Form . Once you've done so, upload a document here to confirm that you have completed the form. The document need only state, "I have completed the Supplemental Information Form" along with your full name.
Video Statement - Please upload a one-minute video, telling us: When did you know you wanted to be a journalist? Was there a particular moment or experience, or did your interest grow over time? Tell us your story in a one-minute video! Nothing fancy — you can take the video on your phone and we don’t expect high production values. There is a 50 MB limit for video submissions.
Work sample #1 - Please provide a sample of your work.
Work sample #2 - Please provide a sample of your work.
Work sample #3 - Please provide a sample of your work.
Work sample #4 - Please provide a sample of your work.
Work sample #5 - Please provide a sample of your work.
Additionally, for this sample, provide a short description of the piece, including why you chose to highlight it and anything you might do differently if you could report the story again. If this piece was created with a team, indicate which areas you were directly responsible for. (For example, if you submit an interactive piece, were you responsible for data collection and photography, but not coding or mapping? If there was a reporting team on the story, which parts of the reporting did you lead?)
- 3 required (contact information only)
Please share three references who can speak to your strengths, personality and work style. We are especially interested in hearing from anyone who has supervised your work in a newsroom, this can include a college newsroom.
Please alert them in advance to look for an email from the AP Recruit system with the subject line: “You have received a request from [Your Name]." They will have one week after the March 5 deadline to respond. Completion should take no more than 10 minutes.
Help contact: cafellows@berkeley.edu
About UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our public mission of research, teaching, and service, consistent with UC Regents Policy 4400 and University of California Academic Personnel policy (APM 210 1-d). These values are embedded in our Principles of Community, which reflect our passion for critical inquiry, debate, discovery and innovation, and our deep commitment to contributing to a better world. Every member of the UC Berkeley community has a role in sustaining a safe, caring and humane environment in which these values can thrive.
The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.
For more information, please refer to the University of California’s Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment Policy and the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.
In searches when letters of reference are required all letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality prior to submitting their letter.
As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.
Unless stated otherwise, unambiguously, in the position description, this position does not include sponsorship of a new consular H-1B visa petition that would require payment of the $100,000 supplemental fee.
As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.
- “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment or discrimination, as defined by the employer.
- UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
- UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
- APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment