Journalists who have an investigative story in mind related to critical issues affecting cities, but who lack the resources to analyze and present the data required to tell the story, are invited to apply to the Local Data Journalism Fellowship. In 2024, the opportunity is open to journalists in the Chicagoland area, or those who work nationally but have a Chicagoland partner. Successful applicants will be appointed as Data Journalism Fellows at the University of Chicago and will work with data science teams to conduct ambitious investigative journalism, using the highest caliber data science and artificial intelligence tools and methodologies. Applications are currently closed for 2024 and will reopen later this year for 2025.

About the program

Journalists lead the way by proposing a data-driven investigative story or series of stories related to critical issues affecting cities. A data science team of faculty and students at the University of Chicago will work closely with selected journalists over the summer of 2024 to scope and provide data analytic and visualization support needed to complete the project. Journalist fellows will meet regularly with the team over eight weeks, first with a kick-off session, followed by in-person or online meetings, typically each week. By the end of the summer, journalist fellows ideally will complete the program with:

• completed data analyses, visualizations, or other deliverables, validated by the University of Chicago that they can use in their story
• an increased high-level understanding of how data science methods and tools can add capacity in their work
• access to data science tools for future projects

What sets this effort apart from existing university data journalism programs is that we connect journalists with university faculty and graduate students who will conduct data science projects in support of their work, rather than attempt to train journalists to be data scientists themselves. This empowers journalists to do what they do best: investigate leads; build relationships with sources; and tell powerful, impactful stories — knowing that the data and results being reported have been rigorously analyzed and validated. Additionally, we expect journalist fellows will leave with increased understanding of the power of data science and its capacity to aid in their future work.

Our goal is to provide you with a quality product that helps tell an important story. To do this, our data team will need to meet and communicate regularly with you. The program will run for eight weeks. We ask that you be available for an initial half-day kickoff meeting, eight hours of additional meetings throughout the summer — or approximately one hour each week, and to stay in regular communication with the data science team as the project progresses.

Who should apply

The program is intended for journalists or other individuals working at news or other organizations who have an investigative story in mind related to critical issues affecting cities, but who lack the resources to analyze and present the data required to tell the story. We encourage individuals from across the Chicagoland area to apply.