JOURNALISM FUNDING PARTNERS · REPORTER FELLOWSHIP

Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship

A year-long mentorship and career development program for early-career journalists with up to five years of full-time experience. Fellows receive 1:1 mentorship from experienced newsroom leaders and a $10,000 career stipend.

1,500 $10,000 1:1 33

Alumni Since 1991 Reporter Stipend Mentorship Program History

Welcoming the 2026-2027 Chips Quinn Reporters

With support from Freedom Forum, JFP has selected 12 early-career journalists from an exceptionally competitive pool of applicants, one of the strongest fields the fellowship has seen. Each fellow will receive a one-year, 1:1 mentorship from an experienced newsroom leader and Chips Quinn alumni, along with a $10,000 stipend. 

This year's fellows represent a wide range of beats, backgrounds and news organizations from across the country:

Click the button below to read the full announcement.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP

Mentorship Built Around Power Skills

The Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship, founded by Freedom Forum and led by Journalism Funding Partners (JFP), provides a one-year mentorship for all early-career journalists.

In a fast-paced and rapidly changing industry, veteran newsroom leaders and new employees alike agree that more access to mentorship is essential to retaining diverse talent. That’s because experienced mentors can provide advice and camaraderie, along with being a sounding board for new ideas or even an inspiration to emulate. Perhaps most important, a mentor can become a trusted confidant who encourages you to advocate for what you need to thrive professionally.

“Mentoring means I can pass on the knowledge I've acquired from my career to the up-and-coming storytellers in hopes that they'll be even better journalists than I could have imagined”

-Khristopher J. Brooks, a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch and 2006 Chips Quinn alum.

From 1991-2019, the program was focused on placing diverse journalists into newspaper internships and evolved to address a critical need in journalism. Since 2020, the Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship has been enlisting mentors from its pool of more than 1,500 alumni and pairing them with interns working in various Gannett newsrooms across the country.

Now, JFP expanded this fellowship to include all early-career journalists from more news organizations.

While many mentorship fellowships focus on teaching writing and reporting skills, this initiative is strategically focused on helping early-career journalists develop what are known as “power skills.” These include areas like communication, leadership, collaboration, personal development and productivity — all skills that help a journalist thrive.

“Young journalists of color often lack the networks and support some of their peers may have thanks to privileges. It's important they have mentors”

-Elizabeth Hernandez, a reporter for The Denver Post and 2014 Chips Quinn alum.

This fellowship will pair an early-career journalist with a Chips Quinn alum or other accomplished journalism professional so that they work together over the course of one year. JFP will offer stipends to the fellows to be used as career support.

The Chips Quinn Fellowship launched in 1991 with the mission to diversify the industry’s workforce pipeline. The new program will continue to honor the late John C. “Chips” Quinn Jr., a newspaper editor who believed in the importance of diversity in newsrooms to better reflect the communities they serve.

POWER SKILLS DEVELOPED

● Communication

● Leadership

● Collaboration

● Personal Development

● Productivity

Featured Spotlights

Testimonials

FAQ

John C. Quinn (1925-2017)
Founder

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Donations made here are strictly for the Chips Quinn Fellowship and do not go to JFP operations.

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