Rural journalists can receive funding for computer-assisted reporting training

Journalists who work at smaller news organizations with a significant rural audience can apply for fellowships that cover much of the cost of attending an IRE training bootcamp for computer-assisted reporting. The goal of the fellowships is to help journalists at these organizations learn how to do important investigative stories that provide a public service for people in rural communities.

The deadline is Jan. 6 to apply for the March 24-28 bootcamp, which will be held at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism in Columbia, Mo. That bootcamp is meant for beginners in data-driven journalism or journalists with minimal data experience.

According to IRE, a “Data Journalism Bootcamp equips journalists across all beats and media platforms with essential data skills. These weeklong, intensive sessions are designed to make data analysis accessible — even for beginners. If you’re new to data journalism, our March and August bootcamps are perfect, as they focus on Google Sheets.”

The deadline to apply for fellowships to attend the Aug. 4-8 bootcamp is May 6.

The Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting fellowships (R-CAR) are provided through a fund created by journalist Daniel Gilbert, who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for public service and a Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for community journalism for a series of stories about the mismanagement of natural gas royalties in southwest Virginia.

His donation of the $10,000 prize for the National Journalism Award was matched by the Scripps Howard Foundation and funds through a Kentucky state program. The funds are housed in an endowment as part of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky.

The R-CAR fellowships cover registration costs for the bootcamp (up to $1,250 value), a one-year IRE membership or renewal, and a travel stipend of up to $500.

For more information or to apply, go to https://www.ire.org/training/fellowships-and-scholarships/r-car-fellowship/