The Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship is funded by a publicly subscribed permanent endowment in memory of Martin Wise Goodman, late president of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
Nieman Fellowships provide U.S. and international mid career journalists with an opportunity to study for an academic year at Harvard, to step back from deadlines, renew their intellectual curiosity and enrich their understanding of the topics they cover. Fellows take part in many journalism-oriented seminars, workshops and conferences, and benefit from the opportunity to spend a year with other journalists from around the world.
The Nieman Fellowships were established for American journalists in 1938 in memory of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of the Milwaukee Journal. They provide a year of study for working journalists in any department of Harvard University as well as a comprehensive seminar program. Previously, thirteen Canadian journalists went to Harvard on this program under other funding, including Martin Goodman (Nieman Fellow class of '62).
Since 1984 there have been 27 Canadian Nieman Fellows sent to the program by the Martin Wise Goodman Trust.
For Canadian Applicants:
We welcome your interest in applying for the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard University for the 2025-2026 academic year. Please note that the deadline for applications for the Canadian Fellowship is December 1, 2024.
Before you begin your online application please make sure you meet all the eligibility requirements listed below. Also read the information on the Nieman website http://www.nieman.harvard.edu which explains the fellowship in more detail. If you have questions that aren’t answered here or on the websites, please contact us by email at canadiannieman@gmail.com.
WHAT IS A NIEMAN FELLOW?
Nieman fellowships provide U.S. and international mid career journalists with an opportunity to study for an academic year at Harvard, to step back from deadlines, renew their intellectual curiosity and enrich their understanding of the topics they cover. Fellows take part in many journalism-oriented seminars, workshops and conferences, and benefit from the opportunity to spend a year with reporters and editors from around the world. Please note: Harvard does not have a journalism school and Nieman Fellows do not receive academic credit or degrees for their work. The fellowships also do not offer journalism training or work experience.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A CANADIAN FELLOWSHIP?
Candidates nominate themselves by submitting an application and supporting materials. There is no age limit and no educational prerequisite for a Nieman Fellowship.
Applicants must be Canadian citizens to qualify for the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship.
You must be fluent in speaking, reading and writing English.
You must have five years of full-time or freelance professional journalism experience. This is a minimum requirement, typically journalists selected as Nieman Fellows have had an average of 12 years’ experience. Work you have done as a university student or for a nongovernmental organization will not fulfill this requirement.
Your professional experience must be with the news or editorial departments of newspapers, wire services, radio or television stations or networks, online publications or magazines of general public interest. Photojournalists, editorial cartoonists, columnists, freelance journalists and broadcast producers are also eligible to apply. We will not consider candidates in public relations or in organizations that do not produce general-interest news.
Within the past two years, you cannot have participated in a fellowship or leave of absence from your work that lasted four months or longer.
WHAT IS THE DEADLINE FOR CANADIAN APPLICATIONS?
All your application materials, including letters of recommendation, must be uploaded via the online application portal at https://nieman.slideroom.com/#/Login by December 1, 2024. Final selection is done in Canada by the Martin Wise Goodman Trust Selection Committee. The online application will be open October 1, 2024.
If any of the information related to your application changes after you have submitted it, please notify us immediately by email at canadiannieman@gmail.com.
WHAT MUST MY APPLICATION INCLUDE?
All Nieman Fellowship applicants must complete an online application form. Candidates must submit the following information as part of their package: two essays; a professional profile and study plan; work samples and three letters of recommendation.
Two essays:
One personal statement of 1,000 words or less that describes your journalistic experience and career plans and aspirations.
One proposal of study at Harvard of 500 words or less that discusses your proposed subjects or fields of study (but not specific course titles).
These essays are very important parts of your application. We carefully evaluate them to understand your accomplishments and potential. We are particularly interested in examples and details that show you have a significant capacity for growth and leadership. We also want to know specifically how a year at Harvard will help make you a better journalist.
Two summaries: a professional profile and a study plan.
Professional profile:
Provide a short profile (no more than 100 words) that summarizes your professional career including your current position (work title and news organization, if appropriate); publications that you have written for and/or other news organizations where you have worked; journalism awards you have won; beats and issues that you cover; special interests, etc.
Study plan summary:
Provide a brief (50 words) of your study plan
WHAT WORK SAMPLES SHOULD I SEND WITH MY APPLICATION?
Work samples should be uploaded to the online application or if uploading is not possible contact canadiannieman@gmail.com. You may also provide a summary page that describes your samples.
If Audio/video files, photographs or samples that exist only as hard copies or surpass the application’s file-size capacity please also contact canadiannieman@gmail.com. Please do not send originals.
Work Sample Specifications:
Do not send complete newspapers or magazines, books, scrapbooks, unpublished manuscripts, works-in-progress, irreplaceable material, elaborate presentations (e.g. spiral bindings or report covers) or “creative” displays.
Please clearly date all your samples and do not send more than the requested number.
If your samples are not in English, please include a summary of their contents in English. Supporting materials must also be in English.
Please note that submitted materials will not be returned.
Send samples that best illustrate your interests and abilities. We are most interested in your recent work. Most of your samples should have been published or broadcast in the year immediately prior to the completion of your application. One older sample may also be submitted.
If you routinely work in more than one medium, you may submit samples from each as long as you follow the guidelines below.
Print and Online Journalists:
Writers: Upload four samples of published work, including publication dates, in individual PDFs. Please do not submit a series in its entirety; you may, however, send the first and last (for example) of a series, together with a brief outline of the other stories in the series.
Editors: Include a statement describing your job. (This is in addition to your two essays.) You may list URLs or include files of published work along with a description of your role in these samples. For published work, follow the instructions for writers above.
Photographers: Submit a portfolio with at least eight samples of your work. Image files up to 10MB each may be uploaded to the online application. If your samples cannot be uploaded or submitted via a URL, you may mail a flash drive or non-returnable printed photos to the Nieman Foundation.
Broadcast Journalists:
Work samples collectively should run no longer than 60 minutes. Include a written synopsis of each sample with a brief description of your involvement in each piece. Video files up to 500MB each and audio files up to 60MB each may be uploaded to the application, or instead provide a URL to your work online.
To submit a sample that cannot be uploaded to your online application or provided via a URL, please contact Lauren Goodman at candiannieman@gmail.com.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
We also require three (3) confidential letters of recommendation, written in English:
Three confidential letters of recommendation are required. These letters should indicate how your abilities and experience make you stand out as a fellowship candidate and should describe your qualifications, your potential for professional growth and leadership, and the impact a fellowship might have on your career in journalism.
Once an applicant completes the references section of the online application for each recommender, those individuals will receive an email with instructions to submit a letter of recommendation. Recommenders will be given the option to upload the letter as a PDF, type/paste the letter online, or it can be sent via email to Lauren Goodman at canadiannieman@gmail.com
Recommendations should be written by:
Two professional associates familiar with your work who can comment on your journalistic abilities and potential for growth and leadership (e.g., current or former colleagues, mentors/advisors).
An immediate supervisor with an appraisal of your qualifications. (Freelancers: This may be someone who has recently worked with you in a supervisory capacity.)
Please ask the people who write your letters to tell us specifically how your abilities and experience make you an outstanding candidate for a Nieman Fellowship.
Further information may be obtained from:
Lauren Goodman
canadiannieman@gmail.com
