2025 Center for Health Journalism Data Fellow

Position description

The Center for Health Journalism’s Data Fellowship offers journalists an opportunity to transform their reporting by training them to “interview the data” as if it were a human source. They finish the five-month program (October 2025–February 2026) equipped with the tools to find original sources of information and perform data analysis. As part of the program, participating journalists receive one-on-one mentoring as they produce a major investigative or explanatory health reporting project or a series of individual data-driven health stories that focus on issues important to their communities. 

This program offers training on data acquisition, cleaning, analysis and visualization led by some of the most skilled data reporters and journalism practitioners in the nation. They teach journalists how to “bulletproof” their data, ensuring accuracy in reporting. Following the training week, Senior Fellows mentor reporters as they pair original data analysis with compelling narratives on underlooked health issues. 

Admitted Fellows receive: 

• A $2,000 stipend to defray reporting costs
• A multi-day, in-person training (Oct. 7-10, 2025) in beginner, intermediate or advanced Excel or RStudio
• Five months of professional mentorship

Fellows also are eligible to apply for professional mentorship in engaged journalism and $1,000-$2,000 to support those creative efforts.

We embrace a broad view of health, which doesn’t just happen at doctors’ offices and hospitals. Health is shaped by our environment — our schools, our neighborhoods and our communities. We strive to admit Fellows whose work and interests for their collaboration with us reflect that. And woven through our work is a focus on how systemic inequities can shape life outcomes and child and family well-being. As participants in our program, journalists also learn how our model of impact reporting can lead to narrative and policy change.

To learn about the reporting themes we support for the National Track and California Track, please visit our Data Fellowship information pages at bit.ly/2025DataFellowship.

Application instructions

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