Hearst Fellowships: Program

Hearst Fellowships jump-start great careers in journalism.
The experience you build as a Hearst Fellow is the start of a very solid foundation for your career in newspapering.

Our objective is to recruit, train and retain talented journalists of diverse backgrounds. We are looking to help develop excellent reporters, editors, photographers, designers and graphic artists. Candidates should be college graduates or others with interest, experience or background in journalism or related fields. Those selected each year will have the opportunity to grow in one of the world’s best journalism organizations.

How Fellows are selected.
A panel of journalism professionals will review applications and select finalists. Finalists will participate in a two-day interview process at the Houston Chronicle in March/April at which time Hearst Fellows will be selected. Hearst Newspapers will cover all travel costs for the interviews.

Professional assistance to ensure your best opportunity for success.
If you are offered and accept a position, you will be assigned an adviser and have the opportunity to develop mentoring relationships with seasoned professionals throughout Hearst Newspapers.

Your adviser will be a manager with expertise in your area of interest and will be responsible for scheduling your job rotations and designing your formal plan.

Program features and benefits.
Hearst Fellows work in a two-year program. Our newspapers are in large and small cities across the nation. The Fellow will have four job rotations – eight months in a metro market, four months in a small market and two six-month rotations in a medium-to-large market. Throughout the two-year program, Fellows will receive formal training, mentoring and work experience alongside award-winning journalists. As a Hearst Fellow, you will receive pay and benefits.

Getting started as a Hearst Fellow.
After you have been assigned an adviser, you will attend a week-long orientation program in mid to late August and begin your first rotation the first week of September. Subjects covered during orientation include:

Reporting
Writing
Copy editing
Covering a beat
Photojournalism
Computer-assisted reporting
Graphics
Ethics
Finding and interpreting public records and documents
Producing, printing and distributing the newspaper
Community journalism

During your Fellowship, you may attend formal training programs recommended by your adviser, managers you work for and/or the Fellowship Steering committee. The primary training tool will be your immersion into a professional newsroom environment.

Getting feedback.
Everyone at Hearst Newspapers wants you to succeed. You will receive feedback throughout the program. Your evaluations by your supervisor and adviser will be used in selecting your next assignment.

What it could mean to your future.
You may be offered a job at the end of your third rotation (18 months), even though your Fellowship is scheduled to last two years.

While participation in the program is not a guarantee of future employment, our goal is to recruit candidates who eventually will join our full-time professional staff. All of us at Hearst Fellowships have an investment in your future... and in the future of Hearst Newspapers.

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