2014 Matter International Reporting Fellowship - Tanzania

We’re interested in stories that matter — stories that, as we state in our mission statement, “start or end conversations, that have meaning and impact, that change minds.” Matter will fund one such story this fall in our first annual International Reporting Fellowship.

We will award one $10,000 grant to a writer or team of journalists so that he or she may investigate and report a narrative feature on an issue of global importance—or local stories of global interest. We’re open to a broad range of topics and interests, though we’re looking for stories that are provocative, timely, and idea-driven. It’s our mission to take big swings at big issues, and this story should reflect that.

We know that the best stories come from great reporting — and reporting isn’t cheap. That’s why we’re willing to cover travel expenses up to $5,000 on top of the $10,000 grant. We also know that it isn’t always easy for new writers to land that first big reporting assignment—so our goal for this fellowship is to work with writers who have not yet been published in major national magazines.

How to Apply:

If you’re interested in applying to Matter’s International Reporting Fellowship, write a proposal for your story in a Medium draft. (Drafts work like Google docs and automatically save whatever you write. The only people who will be able to view the draft are those you share it with.) The pitch should outline your well-researched idea, the reporting involved, and how you would tell the story. Please include three links to writing samples. Be sure to also include a rough estimate of your travel expenses. Email the Medium draft link to us at: matter@medium.com.

The deadline for proposals is Noon EST on November 1, 2014.

We’ll publish all proposals in this Medium collection. (If you’d like to make certain parts of the pitch confidential, please notify us in your email, and we will respect your request.) We’ll choose our top submissions by November 7, and then open it up to our audience to vote on which story to fund.

The voting will take place from November 7–15 and will be tallied by the number of Medium “Recommends” a certain proposal receives. We will announce the winning proposal on December 1, 2014.