The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships 2026/2027 for Freelance Journalists ($25,000) – Opportunities For Africans

Application Deadline:  July 12, 2026 11:59 pm EDT

Applications at the moment are open for the 2026/2027 Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships. The Al Accountability Fellowships search to assist journalists engaged on in-depth AI accountability tales that look at governments’ and companies’ makes use of of predictive, generative, and surveillance applied sciences to information choices in policing, medication, social welfare, legal justice, hiring, and extra.

The 10-month Fellowship will present journalists as much as $25,000 (as much as $20,000 for reporting and $5,000 for engagement actions). The funds can be utilized to pay for data requests, journey bills, and information evaluation. Engagement bills can embrace venue leases, occasion refreshments, printing prices for picture exhibitions, flyers, and many others., and social media adverts, amongst different prices. Freelancers can finances as much as ⅓ of the entire finances for a stipend. In addition, the Fellows may have entry to mentors and related coaching with a bunch of friends that can assist strengthen their reporting tasks.

Requirements

• Staff or freelance journalists engaged on a variety of platforms, together with print, radio, video, and multimedia.
• Team gamers with the expertise and/or capability to work collaboratively throughout newsrooms and borders.
• Reporters with a deep curiosity in how AI impacts the world, and why this subject issues to our international well-being.
• Reporters prepared to take part in outreach actions associated to their investigations, reminiscent of occasions at colleges, universities, and public-facing occasions.
• Reporters could be based mostly wherever. The Fellowships are distant.
• Fellowship communication, conferences, and coaching will probably be in English, however Fellows can publish in any language.

Benefits

• The alternative to work on an pressing, underreported subject for a considerable time frame.
• Access to mentors and specialised coaching Opportunities.
• Pro bono authorized and public data entry assist.
• A neighborhood of like-minded colleagues that can proceed past your Fellowship.
• Financial assist to cowl data requests, journey bills, information evaluation, and stipends.
• The alternative to search out robust collaborators for your mission or future tasks.

Financial Support

• The Fellows are eligible to obtain as much as $25,000 divided in three funds.

Application Procedure:

To apply, you may be requested to offer the next:

• A brief assertion of function: how this Fellowship suits in your profession path and why you might be greatest positioned to be an Al Accountability Fellow. (500 phrases)
• An in depth description of the reporting mission you search to pursue throughout your Fellowship. Please don’t suggest normal themes, however suggest a concrete mission that reveals some pre-reporting on the topic. A compelling, well-researched mission proposal with a reporting plan will provide help to stand out amongst tons of of candidates. (500 phrases)
• An engagement plan: what actions you could possibly facilitate to maximise the influence of your mission, and to make sure it reaches the audiences who might most profit from partaking with this reporting.
• A finances that lays out anticipated prices of the mission. Categories could embrace data requests, software program, information evaluation, journey and lodging, and stipends. If your finances exceeds the utmost quantity offered for this Fellowship ($25,000), please embrace your different funding sources that can permit you to full this mission.
• Three examples (hyperlinks) of your greatest tales revealed prior to now three years (not essentially on synthetic intelligence).
• A letter of dedication or curiosity from a media group(s) that may publish your story(ies). If you’re a workers reporter, a signed letter out of your editor or newsroom supervisor confirming you’ve their assist in making use of for the AI Accountability Fellowship. This letter ought to explicitly state that your newsroom will allocate time for you to take part within the Fellowship actions and the newsroom will assist publishing the tales you produce by this Fellowship. It also can embrace data on why your supervisor thinks you’ll be suited for this Fellowship.
• Three skilled references: These could be both contact data or letters of advice.
• A replica of your resume or curriculum vitae.

For More Information:

grants-fellowships/Opportunities-journalists/ai-accountability-fellowships” goal=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Visit the Official Webpage of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships