Community Journalism Fellowship

Job Description

Colorado Public Radio (CPR) is hiring a Denverite News Fellow.

About the Position:

Through practical experience and mentorship, this fellowship is designed to immerse you in local, community-focused, audience-centered reporting while strengthening your skills in crafting clear and compelling journalism. You’ll learn to develop sources, conduct interviews, interpret complex information, and craft stories that inform and engage Denverites. You will gain experience in producing high-quality journalism across audio and digital formats. By the end of the fellowship, you will have hands-on local reporting experience, a portfolio of published work, and a clearer sense of how you might pursue a path in journalism. 

This is not a remote position. This role is expected to work in Denver upon starting. The fellowship is a full-time, paid opportunity and runs from September 2026 through August 2027. 

Key learning objectives for this experience include - 

• Strengthening writing and journalism skills for multiple platforms, with an emphasis on digital and audio formats. This includes, but is not limited to, developing interviewing skills, understanding the audience, source identification, writing in AP style, learning how to write for broadcast, and exercising news judgement.
• Producing stories across a range of formats and styles including newscasts, radio features, debriefs and 2-way interviews, short radio segments, and audience-focused digital stories — all while meeting standards for clarity, structure, accuracy and storytelling.
• Gathering in-field audio and using audio editing software to prepare it for delivery on the radio, podcasts, and online.
• Developing the knowledge and skills to produce journalism ethically and responsibly.
• Understanding the key skills and experiences needed to pursue a career in public media.

About You:

You are looking to grow and develop your journalistic talents in hyper-local, community-focused reporting. You may be a recent graduate, an early-career journalist, or someone interested in pivoting into the field. You bring strong writing skills, an understanding of the core ethics and principles of journalism, and experience distilling information from a variety of sources. You're self-motivated, creative, and curious, with an interest in crafting clear, compelling stories that serve local audiences and strengthen communities.  

Minimum Qualifications:

• Less than 2 years of professional journalism experience.
• Knowledge of the fundamentals of fair and accurate reporting.
• Strong writing skills including grammar, spelling, the ability to construct clear and concise sentences, with experience using research, data and interviews to produce fair and factual reporting.
• Experience with Google Suite or similar technology including word processing software, spreadsheets, email and messaging systems.
• Experience with using search engines to conduct research and gather information.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across teams and departments.
• An understanding of how to use tools such as social media to promote and distribute content.
• A commitment to telling stories that reflect diverse human experiences, build trust with sources, and highlight issues affecting underserved communities.
• A valid driver’s license and clean driving record is required as this role needs access to reliable transportation to respond with urgency to news events. Newsroom vehicles may sometimes be available for your use.

Education Equivalency:

• A degree is not necessary. The fellowship is designed to support recent graduates, early career journalists with less than 2 years of experience, or those looking to pivot into the field of journalism. If you have 2+ years of professional journalism experience, we encourage you to apply to other full-time CPR positions.

Even if you don’t meet every qualification listed, we’re interested in candidates who can bring unique skills, perspectives, and experiences to the role. At Colorado Public Radio, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, equitable and authentic workplace. If you're excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't perfectly align with every qualification in the job posting, we encourage you to apply as you may be the right candidate for this or other roles with us.

Benefits:

Colorado Public Radio is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package that reflects our culture of caring. Our employees have access to: 100 percent employer paid individual health, life, and disability coverage; an outstanding paid family medical leave policy plus paid holidays and a very generous sick, vacation, and personal time off plan; voluntary offerings such as dental and vision; flexible schedules; engagement and development opportunities; and a casual atmosphere.

Position Information:

Position Type: Full-Time, Temporary

Anticipated Start: September 8, 2026 to August 27, 2027

Hiring Range: $21.59 hourly (budgeted for 40 hours per week)

Application Requirements:

Click here to apply. Please upload a resume and respond to the application questions.

Incomplete Applications will not be considered.

Deadline: This position was posted on March 20th, 2026. We recommend you apply as soon as possible as the posting may close before April 9th if we have a strong candidate pool.

At Colorado Public Radio we are committed to cultivating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workplace that helps us represent the voices of the communities within Colorado. We highly encourage candidates with unique contributions such as ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity, nation of origin, age, language, veteran status, color, religion, disability and sexual orientation to apply to our openings. CPR is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone to our team. If you need reasonable accommodation at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.

Powered by Journalismnext