John S. Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University 2026-2027

Omran Aburayya
Oct 15
5 min read

If you’re a journalist (or media innovator) seeking a moment to pause, reflect, and grow—while being part of an inspiring, global community—the John S. Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University may be one of the most transformative opportunities available. Applications for the 2026-27 cohort open October 15, 2025, so now is a good moment to get oriented to what this fellowship offers, who is eligible, and how to prepare.

📌 Fellowship Summary

Location: Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA
Host Institution: Stanford University / JSK Journalism Fellowships program
Program Type: Fellowship / mid-career professional development (non-degree)
Target Group: Journalists, journalism innovators, reporters, editors, media entrepreneurs, strategists, independent journalists (with at least ~5 years of professional journalism experience)
Fields of Focus: Journalism broadly (reporting, editing, media innovation, news technology, media leadership, new business models, etc.)
Value / Coverage:
- A stipend of US $130,000 for the nine-month fellowship
- Stanford tuition is covered, and health insurance provided for fellows (and supplement for dependents on Stanford coverage)
Program Length: Nine months (in residence, typically from September through May)
Application Deadline: December 3, 2025 (1 p.m. Pacific time)
Start / Fellowship Period: Typically fellows arrive in September and are in residence through May of the following year

🧭 Fellowship Structure

Unlike a traditional academic program, JSK is designed as a flexible, cohort-based, experiential environment. Here’s how it works:

Individual Focus + Cohort Framework: Each fellow proposes a focus (a challenge, a project, an area to deepen) and spends time exploring, experimenting, prototyping, iterating. Meanwhile, the cohort convenes regularly for collective learning, shared sessions, workshops, and reflection.
Coaching & Mentoring: Fellows receive one-on-one coaching and customized workshops aimed at strengthening leadership, resilience, and capacity to navigate change.
Workshops, Seminars & Guest Experts: A structured set of sessions, invited speakers, methodology training (e.g., design thinking, systems thinking), and cross-disciplinary exposure. Fellows also may audit or attend Stanford classes.
Public Sharing / Reflection: Fellows are expected to publicly share insights, reflections, experiments throughout the year, through blog posts, talks, articles, or other media.
Access to Stanford & Network: Fellows get access to Stanford’s research centers, faculty, and wider campus events, in addition to the JSK alumni network which spans journalists around the world.
Residential Commitment: Fellows must reside at Stanford (or in the area) full time and fully commit to the program from September to May.
Community & Collaboration: A core expectation is respectful collaboration across ideological, professional, and cultural differences. The design of the cohort is meant to stimulate cross-learning and peer challenge.

💲 Benefits & What the Fellowship Covers

As a JSK Fellow, you can expect the following benefits:

Full stipend of US $130,000 (for the nine months of the fellowship)
Tuition covered at Stanford (i.e., fellows do not pay Stanford fees)
Health insurance coverage for the fellow; health supplement coverage for dependents if they enroll in Stanford health insurance
Support for settling in: assistance or advice on rental housing, relocating, and transitioning to life in the Stanford area for fellows and their families.
Spouses, partners, and children: The program welcomes family, and many fellows bring spouses or children. Children may attend local public schools; partners/spouses may attend events or sit in on classes.
Access to Stanford’s intellectual community: events, seminars, classes, guest speakers, research centers, collaborations across disciplines.
Strong alumni network: Lifelong membership in a network of journalists, access to peer support, potential collaboration, knowledge sharing.

✅ Eligibility Criteria & Requirements

To be considered for JSK, you must meet certain baseline criteria and adhere to the program expectations. Here’s a breakdown:

Eligibility

You must:

Have at least five years of professional journalism experience.
Internships or student journalistic work does not count toward the five years.
Be actively involved in journalism (or innovation tied to journalism). If you aren’t a full-time journalist, the majority of your work should be journalism-related.
Not be working in public relations, public information, or government, or full-time academia. The program is not open to those producing internal communications, working in PR, or in government communications roles.
Not be seeking a degree. This is not a degree program; you won’t earn academic credit or a degree through JSK.
Be proficient in English. Application materials should be in English. You don’t need to submit TOEFL/IELTS, but you must be able to operate in English in workshops, cohort discussions, events.
Be able to relocate to the U.S. temporarily (visa). International fellows come on J-1 visa; fellows and eligible dependents use J-1 / J-2 visas. The program cannot assist in getting visas beyond those tied to the fellowship.

👩🏻‍💻 Expectations & Commitments

If selected, you’ll need to:

Be in residence at Stanford from September through May.
Commit full time to the fellowship—this means stepping away from prior professional obligations (no “moonlighting” jobs).
Participate in weekly cohort meetings, biweekly individual coaching, occasional JSK / Stanford events and programming.
Share your work publicly, reflect on your experiments, outcomes, findings during the year.
Collaborate respectfully with diverse viewpoints—working across ideological, cultural, professional differences is central.

📝 Application Process

📆 Application Timeline & Important Dates

Applications open: October 15, 2025 at 1 p.m. Pacific time
Deadline: December 3, 2025 at 1 p.m. Pacific time
Webinars: The program hosts live webinars to guide candidates and answer questions. For 2025, webinars are scheduled at 4 p.m. PT on October 30 and 9 a.m. PT on November 12.
Selection & Interviews: After an initial review of applications, selected candidates will be invited to Zoom interviews with JSK directors and selection team.
Notification: Final selections are made in spring; typically fellows will arrive just before orientation in early September.

🗂️ Documents & Components

You will need to submit through the application form the following materials:

A one-minute “selfie” video, in which you describe what you want to be doing in journalism in three to five years (your vision)
Resume / CV highlighting your professional journey, roles, projects in journalism
Work sample (e.g. an article, video, project, portfolio) that reflects your journalism practice and capacity
Contact information for three professional references
A disclosure of any use of artificial intelligence tools in preparing the application (there is a dedicated section in the form)
Responses to narrative questions in the online form about your career trajectory, your goals for the fellowship, how you would contribute to the cohort, and how the fellowship fits your aspirations.

Once submitted, applications go through multiple rounds of review by JSK directors, alumni, and selection committees. Finalists are interviewed and then selected for the fellowship.

💫 Additional Tips & Insights

Be clear about your focus: The most competitive applications articulate a challenge, question, or area to explore, rather than just a general desire to “learn.”
Show adaptability: When working in innovation and experimentation, being open to change, iteration, and failure is important.
Demonstrate collaborative mindset: Since cohort learning and peer engagement are crucial, your capacity to work across differences will be assessed.
Engage with alumni and past fellows: Reading blog posts, Medium reflections, or reaching out to alumni can help you understand how they structured their fellowship year and what challenges or opportunities they encountered.
Plan your work sample carefully: Choose something that reflects your best work and is relevant to your proposed focus.
Prepare the video well: One minute is short—be concrete, compelling, and forward-looking.