Civic Reporting Programs
City Bureau offers paid, intensive training opportunities for journalists who want to grow their reporting, engagement and leadership skills.
Civic Reporting Programs at City Bureau are hands-on training opportunities where journalists of different experience levels can grow their skills in a supportive environment. At City Bureau, we emphasize racial equity, community engagement and co-learning. All program participants work closely with communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides to center the needs and narratives of people most directly affected by the issues we cover.
Learn more details to see if the fellowship is right for you and apply to be considered for the Spring 2024 cycle.
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on future application cycles.
Winter 2024 Fellows
Clockwise from top right: Sarah Conway, Roger Fierro, Abena Bediako, Erika Perez and Sebastián Hidalgo. (Photo: Ariel Cheung/City Bureau)
How asylum-seekers find work in Chicago
Since August 2022, more than 35,000 asylum-seekers and migrants have come to Chicago via buses and planes from Texas. As we spoke to some recent arrivals, many said finding work was their No. 1 concern. Fellows will explore what that looks like in a city still figuring out how best to be a welcoming one.
Fall 2023 Fellows
From left: Troy Gaston, Reema Saleh, Jerrel Floyd (team lead), Nicole Johnson and Ahmad Sayles. (Photo: Ariel Cheung)
Affordable housing in bronzeville
As developers eye Bronzeville for new housing projects, how can the historic Black Metropolis prioritize equity and avoid displacing long-time residents? Fellows will chronicle the journeys of those in search of housing, and looking into existing options for affordable, long-term housing in the neighborhood.
Art: Veronica Martinez for City Bureau
Special series: Temp Workers
Are policymakers keeping their promises to reduce racial disparities in staffing agencies? We’ll learn from Black and Latinx workers about how policy decisions have impacted their lives.
Special series: Housing Cooperatives
Can housing cooperatives be a solution to the affordable housing crisis? Fellows will explore the history of co-ops in Chicago, particularly in communities of color, and the role the city has played in supporting them?
Art: David Alvarado for City Bureau
A Growing Alumni Network
Our 100+ past fellows and residents have gone on to do everything from founding their own media startups to working at news outlets as diverse as Block Club Chicago to the New York Times. Their award-winning reporting has inspired protests, policy changes and transformative conversations in communities across Chicago.
PAST RESIDENTS & FELLOWS
Not pictured: Adia Robinson, Evie Lacroix, Latricia Polk, Will Cabaniss
Past Projects
If you’ve read a major investigation or reporting project from City Bureau—from the “Fraternal Order of Propaganda” investigative feature to “The Cord” text-messaging service for Black mothers and birthing people—it was most likely created by participants in our Civic Reporting Programs. Read more of our past projects below.
