Applications Invited for Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships (2026–2027)

About the Organization

The Pulitzer Center has a bold vision: to be the venue for the world’s most innovative and consequential reporting, with journalism as the key element for mobilizing society through audience engagement strategies.

Founded in 2006 by Jon Sawyer, the Center is an essential source of support for enterprise reporting in the United States and across the globe. The thousands of journalists and educators who are part of our networks span more than 80 countries. Our work reaches tens of millions of people each year through our news-media partners and an audience-centered strategy of global and regional engagement.

About the Fellowship

We seek to support journalists and newsrooms that represent the diversity of the communities impacted by AI technologies. The Fellowship is designed for reporters from all beats, desks, and formats who want to broaden, deepen, and diversify reporting on artificial intelligence with an accountability lens.

Journalists need to apply with a reporting project they wish to pursue during their Fellowship. We encourage enterprise and accountability projects that use a variety of approaches—including data analysis, records requests, and shoe-leather reporting—to delve into the real-world impact of algorithms on policy, individuals, and communities.

We welcome projects on a broad range of issues across the AI supply chain. Previous Fellows have reported on a range of in-depth stories: how data labellers may have unknowingly worked for the U.S. military, Big Tech’s playbook for building out data centers, the embedded bias in Europe’s welfare algorithms, how European companies export facial recognition technology to countries with weak regulatory frameworks, and more. Their reporting has prompted new legislation in Brazil, surfaced evidence used in lawsuits, and inspired student investigations in Indonesia and student poets to examine AI accountability.

For the first time this year, the Fellowship will also include funding, mentorship, and training to develop and execute an impact plan for each investigation to reach strategic audiences. This can look like building partnerships with content creators to reach online communities, creating a zine for a local library, or holding multistakeholder discussions with civil society, industry, and government officials.

The 10-month Fellowship will provide journalists up to $25,000 (up to $20,000 for reporting and $5,000 for engagement activities). The funds can be used to pay for records requests, travel expenses, and data analysis. Engagement expenses can include venue rentals, event refreshments, printing costs for photo exhibitions, flyers, etc., and social media ads, among other costs. Freelancers can budget up to ⅓ of the total budget for a stipend. In addition, the Fellows will have access to mentors and relevant training with a group of peers that will help strengthen their reporting projects.

Successful applicants will be expected to join a mandatory 1.5-2 hour meeting held every month, contribute to at least one community call during the Fellowship and to engage with other Fellows in virtual meetings and on the community’s dedicated online platform. They are also encouraged to attend a monthly virtual training session.

We require the sharing of methodologies and lessons learned so each story may serve as a blueprint for other journalists or newsrooms pursuing similar projects.

Eligibility

• Staff or freelance journalists working on a wide range of platforms, including print, radio, video, and multimedia.
• Team players with the experience and/or ability to work collaboratively across newsrooms and borders.
• Reporters with a deep interest in how AI impacts the world, and why this issue matters to our global well-being.
• Reporters willing to participate in outreach activities related to their investigations, such as events at schools, universities, and public-facing events.
• Reporters can be based anywhere. The Fellowships are remote.
• Fellowship communication, meetings, and training will be in English, but Fellows can publish in any language.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2026-2027 AI Accountability Fellowships are now open.

The deadline is July 12, 2026.

Find more information here. Apply here.

For more information please check the Link

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Tags Governance Innovations and Technology Journalism/ Reporting Others