JUVENILE JUSTICE JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIPS

APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED

Covering the New Stories in Juvenile Justice

Sponsored by

The John Jay College Center on
Media, Crime and Justice and
The Tow Foundation

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The Center on Media, Crime and Justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice is seeking applications for a special Reporting Fellowship program from journalists and editors who want to improve and deepen their coverage of troubled youth and juvenile justice.

Up to 25 fellowships will be awarded to help journalists explore reforms to the current sentencing and detention practices that have made the U.S. the world leader in youth incarceration, and to familiarize themselves with the behind-the-scenes stories, innovative programs and new research likely to influence the juvenile justice reform agenda at local and national levels in 2012 and beyond.

The centerpiece of the year-long fellowship program, supported by The Tow Foundation, will be a two-day symposium on April 23rd and April 24th 2012, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) in New York City, entitled:

KIDS BEHIND BARS: Where's the Justice in America's Juvenile Justice System? (Covering the Debate on Reform in 2012)

The Symposium will bring selected Fellows together with the principal players in the juvenile justice system, including juvenile justice practitioners, scholars, judges and other legal authorities, public officials, NGO leaders, activists, and former youth offenders for candid discussions, intensive briefings and roundtable dialogues on juvenile justice law and policy, and their impact on troubled youth.

The John Jay/Tow Fellowship Program will provide skills and resource assistance, including mentoring and background research papers, which Reporting Fellows can access from their home newsrooms through a special online Juvenile Justice Reporters Network that will be established for the duration of the year-long project. The Network is intended to help reporters and editors identify and complete individual reporting projects related to juvenile justice in their states and cities; to connect them with national and local sources useful to their coverage; and to share information and ideas with colleagues.

Selected Fellows from outside the New York area will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to New York to attend the symposium. Resource assistance to all fellows will begin on their acceptance to the program, and continue after the symposium.

In October 2012, the Center on Media, Crime and Justice will also select the three or four best reporting projects, either completed or close to completion, and invite the Fellows to discuss them at a special session for national media and experts on juvenile justice to be held at the 8th annual Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America at John Jay College in New York, tentatively scheduled for February, 2013.

WHO'S ELIGIBLE; HOW TO APPLY

Applications will be accepted from journalists, editors and columnists from print, broadcasting or online media outlets, and from a variety of beats relating to juvenile and criminal justice. These include law enforcement, corrections, the courts and sentencing, politics and public policy; and education, health care and substance abuse.

Applicants should send a letter explaining why this Fellowship can be useful to their reporting. The letter should include a resume and a brief (250-300 word) description of a (planned or underway) reporting project keyed to a juvenile justice issue. The application should also be accompanied by a supporting letter from an assigning editor. Preference will be given to given to projects that contain an editor's commitment to publish or broadcast their story/project. After their project has been completed, each selected applicant will also be asked to produce a brief "story behind the story" reporting memo that can be used by future reporting fellows as a learning tool.

Deadline to apply is Friday, March 23rd 2012. Fellowships will be announced on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012.

Joe Domanick, Associate Director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice and a nationally known criminal justice journalist, author and instructor, is coordinator of this project. Our research partner is Dr. Jeff Butts, director of John Jay's Center on Research and Evaluation, and one of the country's leading experts on juvenile justice. If you have any questions please contact Joe Domanick at jdomanick@jjay.cuny.edu or by phone at 310-657-4984.

About The Center on Media, Crime and Justice
The Center on Media, Crime and Justice (CMCJ), housed at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) since 2006 and operated by working journalists based in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles, is a non-partisan practice- and research-oriented think tank devoted to encouraging and developing high-quality reporting on criminal justice. For more information (and to see other Reporting Fellowships organized by the CMCJ, visit http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/cmc, or visit our national news & resource website at www.thecrimereport.org

About The Tow Foundation
The Tow Foundation, established in 1988 by Leonard and Claire Tow, funds projects and collaborative ventures in fields where there are opportunities for breakthroughs, reform and benefits for underserved populations. Investments focus on the support of innovative programs in the areas of juvenile justice reform, groundbreaking medical research, cultural institutions, and higher education. For more information, visit www.towfoundation.org.