A San Jose Flea Market shop owner is interviewed by Mosaic reporter Dali Guerrero as photographer Jasmine Nguyen makes photographs at the market in San Jose, California. (Jim Gensheimer/Mosaic Staff)

PRINCETON, N.J. —  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Dow Jones News Fund to teach teens journalism and encourage reporting on inequities in healthcare, education and other public services in its 2022 summer high school journalism workshops.

The News Fund will award grants to academic institutions and nonprofit organizations to provide journalism training to students from under-resourced communities. Special emphasis will be placed on programs that find creative ways to engage and inspire students.

Students’ primary research and reporting topics should cover inequities in health and public policy within their community, such as vaccine distribution, access to technology, online learning, physical fitness, food deserts, poverty, income inequality, substance abuse, climate change or environmental hazards.

The News Fund will also award up to $9,000 in college scholarships through an essay competition for students who attend DJNF-funded programs.

  • Deadline for proposals is Monday, March 14 at 9 am E.T. Click here for the proposal guidelines which includes a link to the 2022 application.
  • Grants will range from $5,000 to $8,000.
  • Proposals should include a workshop theme or topic, budget, resumes of staff and speakers, a detailed tentative schedule and an example of previous work done by students, if applicable.
  • DJNF will evaluate proposals using several criteria, including the health and inequities theme, student engagement, quality of journalism instruction, number of students, the extent of community outreach, commitment to diversity, collaboration with media and involvement of professional journalists.

Workshop directors are also invited to add their program to the Dow Jones News Fund’s Directory of High School Workshops. Complete this form to be added or to update a listing.

Since 2018, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has supported the News Fund’s summer journalism programs that concentrate on health and wellness topics as they teach teens to report and write for an audience, shoot and edit video and take photos.

About The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working with others to build a national Culture of Health enabling everyone in America to live longer, healthier lives. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

About the Dow Jones News Fund
The Dow Jones News Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes careers in journalism in the digital age. Our vision is robust news media staffed by well-trained, innovative journalists who reflect America’s diversity and are dedicated to a free, strong and fair press. The News Fund is supported by Dow Jones, Dow Jones Foundation, other media companies and private donations.