Deadline: October 13, 2025

Applications are open for the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism – Fall 2025. Are you a journalist with a great idea for a high-impact story that “Follows the Money” but few resources to get it done? The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism would like to hear from you.

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism provides experienced journalists with grants up to $15,000 and the editorial support needed to produce deeply reported enterprise and investigative stories with a strong economic, financial or business angle. You don’t need to be a business reporter to apply — many of our previous Fellows have been generalists, or cover beats such as health care, education or the environment. Others have focused on issues such as economic inequality or corporate accountability.


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Given the enormous changes in federal spending and policy priorities now coming out of the new administration in Washington DC, they are particularly interested during the in-story proposals that examine the impact of these changes.

Benefits

  • 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 use some of the funding as a stipend for living expenses during the Fellowship. 

Eligibility

  • Open to anyone with at least five years professional experience in journalism. 
  • They support work by freelance journalists, as well as by reporters and editors currently working at a news organization or a journalism non-profit. In the latter case, reporters and editors can apply directly in the name of their organization.
  • They consider proposals from both freelance and staff journalists in all forms of media — text, audio, photo, and short-form video — and encourage those that combine formats to create a multimedia package.
  • They look for projects that focus on important local or regional topics, as well as those that tackle compelling national or international stories or report on under-covered communities or issues. Journalists from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application

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Applicants should submit a well-focused story proposal of no more than three pages through the accompanying online form. Think of it as pitch, much like you would submit to an editor at a newspaper, magazine, audio or digital outlet: give them enough preliminary reporting and documentation to demonstrate that the story is solid.

The proposal should highlight what’s new and significant about the story, why it matters and what its potential impact might be. The proposal should also note where significant stories on the subject have run elsewhere and how the proposed piece would differ. Applicants should also briefly outline a proposed reporting plan and a timeline for completing the story. And while you don’t need to have a media outlet lined up for your story before you apply, if you do have one, let us know that in your proposal.

In addition, applicants should enclose three journalism samples. The samples should be professionally published work that showcases your ability to tackle an in-depth story in the proposed medium. Also provide us with an up-to-date resume. No references are required at the time of application, but those who are chosen as finalists will be asked to provide references from two editors or others familiar with their work. Freelance applicants for whom getting references is a problem can discuss alternatives with the McGraw Center.

Click here to apply


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For more information, visit McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism.

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