McGraw Center seeks applications for funding of high-impact projects

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism, an initiative of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, began offering fellowships to accomplished journalists in the summer of 2014.

Nearly three dozen veteran journalists have since been awarded grants of up to $15,000.

The aim of the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism is to support high-impact, ambitious coverage of critical issues related to the global economy, finance and business. In an age when many news organizations no longer have the resources to tackle complex, time-consuming stories, the fellowships enable experienced journalists to do the deep reporting needed to produce a serious piece of investigative or enterprise journalism.

You’ll find more information on our current fellows and their projects here; our past fellows can be found on the following pages: 2018 Fellows; 2017 Fellows; 2016 Fellows; 2015 Fellows; 2014 Fellows. The Fellowship Stories page contains links to all of the stories they have published.

The upcoming deadline for Winter 2020 Fellowships is Jan/ 31, 2020.

However, we will consider time-sensitive projects on a case-by-case basis outside of the deadline periods. If you have a project that might qualify, please contact them at mcgrawcenter@journalism.cuny.edu.

The McGraw Fellowship provides editorial and financial support to journalists who need the time and resources to produce a significant investigative or enterprise story that provides fresh insight into an important business, financial or economic topic. We accept applications for in-depth text, video or audio pieces, and we encourage proposals that take advantage of more than one storytelling form to create a multimedia package. This is not a residency fellowship, however. All fellows work from their own offices.

The fellowship provides a grant of up to $15,000 for each project. The exact amount will depend on the time it takes to complete the project and the expenses needed; freelance journalists may also use some of the funding as a stipend for living expenses during the fellowship. We look for applicants with a proven ability to report and execute a complex project in their proposed medium; ideally, candidates will also have a strong background or reporting expertise on the subject of their piece.

The McGraw Center provides editorial supervision during the fellowship. We work with the fellows to develop their projects during the reporting phase and frequently edit the completed stories. We also assist with placing the articles in established print, radio or digital outlets. The stories run on the McGraw Center website as well.