2021 NABJ Ethel Payne Fellowship

he NABJ Ethel Payne Fellowship is a $5,000 award bestowed to a worthy journalist. The fellowship provides an opportunity for an NABJ member to gain foreign correspondence experience and the necessary assistance to complete a project or singular report.

The fellowship is named for the first female, African American commentator employed by a U.S. network when CBS hired her in 1972. Known as the “First Lady of the Black Press,” Payne, a Chicago native, was a lecturer and columnist whose eloquent advocacy while reporting on the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s gained her national fame. Payne, who died in 1991, was the first African American female journalist to focus on international news reporting. 

The fellowship was established to provide rich coverage of the African continent beyond the common storylines of HIV/AIDS, famine and war. Proposed projects are encouraged to tell the untold and dynamic stories of Africa and African people. 

Due to the current COVID-19 travel restrictions and health concerns, travel to Africa is not required. However the recipient will be required to virtually connect and engage with African based programs, organizations and various groups within the U.S. and abroad to tell their untold and dynamic stories of Africa and the African people, the current atmosphere, and their interactions with journalists in the U.S.

Extended Application Deadline: January 31, 2021

Project Deadline: June 14, 2021