More partners, more diversity: second round of the Google News Lab Fellowship in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Over the past two years, we’ve steadily expanded the Google News Lab Fellowship program to help build the next generation of digital journalists across the world. Last year, we launched the program in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, attracting more than 130 applicants and placing 17 applicants in local newsrooms.
We’re excited to build on that work and announce the next round of the Google News Lab Fellowship in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
This year, we are offering 17 fellowships in some of the most innovative media companies in the region and are delighted to welcome Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel and Media Lab Bayern as new media partners to the program. Journalists and developers can apply for the fellowship from today, May 9th, using the application form on the Google News Lab Fellowship website. The application process will run until June 2th.
This year, our partners include:
Berliner Morgenpost (Berlin)
Blick (Zürich)
Berliner Zeitung (Berlin)
Correctiv (Berlin)
Der Standard (Wien)
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Online (Frankfurt)
Kurier (Wien)
Media Lab Bayern (München)
Mittelbayerische Zeitung (Regensburg)
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (Osnabrück)
Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Zürich)
Rheinische Post (Düsseldorf)
Spiegel Online (Hamburg)
Tagesspiegel (Berlin)
VOCER (Hamburg)
Wirtschaftswoche (Düsseldorf)
Zeit Online (Berlin)
This year, to make the fellowship track for developers more inclusive, we will partner with Neue Deutsche Medienmacher e.V., a coalition of journalists dedicated to objective reporting and better representation of Germany’s immigrant populations. We will offer five fellowship placements to journalists and developers who either have a migrant background or are in exile. Rebecca Roth, program manager at Verein Neue Deutsche Medienmacher e.V., emphasized the need to “encourage and empower journalists with an immigrant background” and “give them the opportunity to prepare for journalism in the future” given “that the world of technology is rapidly changing.”
We entirely agree. Diversity and inclusion are essential in creating media that surfaces new perspectives and reaches new audiences. We believe that these journalists can discover new stories, and open up new sources and research areas for journalists in the region — especially around topics like migration, integration, and asylum. We are grateful to the work of Rebecca and her organization, who will help support the journalists with work permits and other issues that involve local immigration laws.
We also want to take a moment to thank everyone who applied and participated in our program last year. The response to the program from both applicants and media partners is one of the key reasons we’ve invested in expanding the program this year. Here’s some of the feedback we heard from our media partners last year:
“To work with new web technologies means a lot of testing and experimentation. The Google News Lab fellowship brings ideal conditions, especially in larger projects where refinement of ideas lead to new opportunities.” — Julius Tröger, head of the interactive team at Berliner Morgenpost
“For Zeit Online, the News Lab Fellowship 2016 was enriching through collaborative work on complex visualisation projects. It was exciting, enlightening, and productive. The stories we worked on during the fellowship are already live or in final drafts.” — Fabian Mohr, head of Resort Interactive at Zeit Online
We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of passionate, ambitious journalists and developers this year to expand and broaden the impact of the Fellowship program. You can learn more about the fellowship program, our participating media organizations, and Verein Neue Deutsche Medienmacher e.V. on our website.
The Fellowship program is a reflection of our values at the Google News Lab. For all the opportunities technology may enable, great journalists will always be at the heart of great journalism. We look forward to continue strengthening the program and helping develop the next generation of storytellers.
