Webinar for Prospective Fellowship Applicants

Knight-Wallace alumni and webinar presenters (left to right): Candice Choi, Arnessa Garrett, Chantel Jennings, Neda Ulaby, Maria Arce, and Azi Paybarah.

Conversational Webinars for Knight-Wallace Fellowship Applicants

Wallace House Center for Journalists invites all interested Knight-Wallace Fellowship applicants to a webinar conversation on one of the three dates listed below.

Meet our Knight-Wallace alumni and discover how their year in Ann Arbor, access to a world-class university’s resources, and dedicated time to focus on a journalism project broadened their perspectives and advanced their careers. They’ll answer your questions and share insights about the Knight-Wallace Fellowship experience.

Monday, Oct. 21, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET

  • Candice Choi, editor for The Wall Street Journal
  • Neda Ulaby, cultural correspondent for NPR

Friday, Nov. 15, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET

  • Arnessa Garrett, editor at The Advocate/ Times-Picayune
  • Maria Arce, journalist and editor specialized in covering natural disasters

Wednesday, Jan. 15, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET
For U.S. applicants only

  • Chantel Jennings, senior writer for The Athletic
  • Azi Paybarah, national reporter for The Washington Post

More About Our Alumni Presenters

Monday, Oct. 21, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET

Candice Choi  | Class of 2018

Candice Choi is a news editor on the finance team at The Wall Street Journal. She joined the Journal from CNBC, where she was an editor on the company and business news team. Before that, she spent most of her career at the Associated Press, where she served in a variety of roles on the business news and health and science teams. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she researched the social and corporate forces influencing our eating habits.

Neda Ulaby | Class of 2019

Neda Ulaby is a cultural correspondent for NPR, where she has worked in diverse roles for more than 20 years. In 2012, Ulaby also hosted the Emmy-award winning public television series, Arab American Stories. Before coming to NPR, Ulaby was the managing editor of Chicago’s Windy City Times and co-hosted a local radio program. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she studied the cultural history of the veil in world religions.

Friday, Nov. 15, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET

Arnessa Garrett | Class of 2019

Arnessa Garrett is the Opinion Page editor at The Advocate / Times-Picayune. She previously worked as the metro editor at the Dallas Morning News and as senior editor of news at The Daily Advertiser, a community newspaper in her hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she explored how to rebuild trust with local audiences through digital engagement.

Maria Arce | Class of 2023 

Maria Arce is a journalist and editor who specializes in covering natural disasters. Based in Puerto Rico for seven years, she worked as the digital multiplatform director of El Vocero and a correspondent for numerous media outlets, including serving as an editorial coach at Global Press. While working for GFR Media, she led digital coverage of Hurricane María. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she curated emergency response strategies tailored to the needs of small newsrooms. 

Wednesday, Jan. 15, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET
For U.S. applicants only

Chantel Jennings | Class of 2020

Chantel Jennings is The Athletic’s senior writer for women’s basketball. Before joining The Athletic, she worked for almost a decade as a staff writer at ESPN.com, covering Pac-12 and Big Ten football, men’s and women’s college basketball, and NCAA track and field. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she developed a first-of-its-kind national survey that created a picture of the more than 600 college newsrooms across America. 

Azi Paybarah | Class of 2018

Azi Paybarah is a national reporter for The Washington Post. He previously covered politics for The New York Times and was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, he reported for The New York Observer, WNYC and Politico New York. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, he looked at strategies for rebuilding media credibility by reaching beyond natural audiences.

Application Deadlines

Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are now open.
International applications are now closed.
The deadline for U.S. applicants is February 1, 2025.

More About the Knight-Wallace Fellowships

The Song Foundation and The Joyce Foundation Commit $1.28 Million to Wallace House Center for Journalists to Launch the Great Lakes Local News Initiative

Wallace House Center for Journalists at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce an innovation-driven $1.28 million gift from the Song Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. This funding will launch the Great Lakes Local News Initiative and bolster the Knight-Wallace Fellowships, providing targeted support for journalists dedicated to revitalizing local news across the midwestern Great Lakes states.

The initiative will grant specialized fellowships within the Knight-Wallace program, offering entrepreneurship training from experts at Wallace House, the University of Michigan, and national and regional journalism partners. These fellowships will empower journalists to build or grow new journalism outlets or lead innovative initiatives within existing newsrooms, ensuring local communities have access to reliable, sustainable and equitable information.

The Great Lakes Local News Initiative is an effort to address the alarming decline of local journalism and the resulting breakdown in social cohesion necessary for informed, functioning communities. Nearly one-third of U.S. newspapers have closed since 2005, leaving behind news deserts and communities vulnerable to disinformation and unaccountable leadership, threatening the fabric of democracy. By building on the 50-year history of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships, this initiative will support journalists committed to creating or rebuilding strong, inclusive local news outlets essential to fostering community engagement, action and change. The effort aligns with numerous local news initiatives across the country.

“At a time when the strength of our democracy is under intense pressure, these generous gifts shine a bright light on the vital connection between journalism and an informed, civically engaged society,” said Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House. “Journalists in our region have the ideas, energy and dedication to design new strategies for reaching their local communities. Our ability to add directed training, tools and support networks will propel their efforts and foster a durable news ecosystem. We are deeply grateful to the Song Foundation and the Joyce Foundation for providing this transformative catalyst.”

The Michigan-based Song Foundation has pledged a $1 million challenge grant designed to inspire additional support from foundations and individual donors across the Great Lakes states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. This gift will seed an endowment and build long-term sustainability over the next five years.

“We believe that collective investments are urgently needed to preserve local journalism and ensure residents of the Great Lakes region have access to credible information to help guide their engagement and advocacy at all levels of government,” said Khalilah Burt Gaston, executive director of the Song Foundation. “The Foundation’s commitment to building this ongoing endowment to support the Great Lakes Local News Initiative is our call for individuals and organizations to join us in supporting journalists with a vision and passion to chart new paths in their field.”

The Joyce Foundation, based in Illinois, has embraced this challenge with a $280,000 grant, reinforcing their shared commitment to equity and economic mobility in the Great Lakes region.

“It’s so important to give sharp minds the support they need to build the stronger local journalism we all need,” said Hugh Dellios, director of Joyce’s Journalism Program. “The Great Lakes region has been a fountain of innovative ideas for how to strengthen local news. We’re proud to partner with Wallace House and the Song Foundation to promote more successful entrepreneurship, and we hope others will join us in this effort.”

Applications for the Great Lakes Local News Fellowship will open in October to journalists committed to building or growing local news outlets across Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Like the traditional Knight-Wallace Fellowship, applicants must have at least five years of journalism experience and currently work in some aspect of journalism. The application deadline is February 1, 2025. The first recipients will be selected in May 2025 to join the 2025-2026 Knight-Wallace Fellowship cohort.

About The Song Foundation

The Song Foundation, inspired by Southeast Michigan’s spirit of progress and creative risk-taking, supports ideas, people, and organizations that further its shared vision of an equitable, thriving community. It embraces disruptors and amplifies the signal of people already working, every day to create opportunities for neighbors in need and to foster economic, social, environmental, and cultural wealth—community wealth—for a more free, prosperous, and joyful future.
song.foundation

About The Joyce Foundation

The Joyce Foundation is a private, nonpartisan philanthropy that invests in public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.
joycefdn.org

About Wallace House Center for Journalists

Wallace Center for Journalists at the University of Michigan is committed to fostering excellence in journalism. We are home to programs that recognize, sustain and elevate the careers of journalists to address the challenges of journalism today, foster civic engagement and uphold the role of a free press in a democratic society. We believe in the fundamental mission of journalism to document, interpret, analyze and investigate the forces shaping society.