Tech x Religion Feature Reporting Fellowship

New opportunity for reporters who want to explore the intersection of technology and religion through immersive, long-form reporting.

International non-profit newsroom Rest of World is looking for three reporting fellows to work on ambitious feature stories about how technology is transforming religious practices in Latin America, Africa, Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

Themes
Applicants should pitch an idea for a story that falls under one of the following themes:

• How technology is being adapted for spiritual and religious practices
• How social media is fuelling the rise of religious influencers
• How technology is being used to surveil and target ethnic and religious minorities.

Funding Information
The three successful applicants will each receive a stipend of $10,000.
This amount comprises the writer’s fee and a budget for travel and other approved reporting expenses. The fellow will be supported and mentored by the Rest of World Features team throughout the program.
In addition, the fellows will be invited to New York City toward the end of 2024 to visit the Rest of World offices and participate in a symposium to showcase their work.

Who should apply?

• This fellowship is open to journalists at any stage of their career and based anywhere in the world. While the applicants themselves can be from any country, they prefer that their story proposal is grounded in the country or community they hail from or are deeply familiar with.
• They are looking for international journalists who have an interest in technology and/or religion and experience in reporting and writing long-form features. You should have an idea for a long-form story or project, focused on technology that you would like to report in one of the regions that Rest of World covers. Ideas should have the technology’s impact on religion at the forefront; they are less interested in, for example, culture- or politics-led stories that involve only a small amount of tech or religious impact.
• They are looking for ambitious proposals that go beyond a typical assignment, requiring extended reporting (possibly across multiple locations), in-depth sourcing, and a significant time commitment. The aim is for this fellowship to support work the applicant would otherwise not be able to complete due to time and/or budgetary constraints.
• You should also be able to make the case for why you are the right person to report the story — whether that’s subject matter expertise or knowledge of the location or community in question.

Learn how to apply here.