Message from the Director
The Power of a Fellowship
James R. Bettinger
James R. Bettinger
Director, John S. Knight Fellowships
Fellow '83
Journalism is changing, so is the Knight Fellowships program, and you can be a part of both transformations.
Professional journalism fellowships began at Stanford more than 40 years ago on the premise that giving reporters and editors access to the classrooms and libraries of a great university would pay off in quality journalism. It has. And although that premise rings still rings true, the challenges to journalism are greater than anyone could have imagined even five years ago.
That's why Knight Fellowships is transforming itself in order to serve the needs of journalism and journalists as much in the years ahead as it has in the past. The dizzying landscape of layoffs and consolidation, Internet media sites, citizen journalism and bloggers make journalism a chaotic and exciting proposition today. We believe the changes we are making will meet these new realities.
Yes, a Knight Fellowship will get you away from deadlines for a few months, but it will do so much more, for you and for journalism. For starters, it will provide the foundation for the rest of your career. For those of you who work for established news organizations, it will give you the opportunity to help that news organization survive and even thrive. For those of you who work in less established news media, it can give you the tools to grow and improve the quality and reach of your publication/broadcast/site. A Knight Fellowship, we believe, can improve the overall quality of news and analysis that reaches the public - a goal that all can endorse.
Nearly 800 people have been professional journalism fellows at Stanford. We're proud of the work they've done, and we stand ready to help 20 more each year. Maybe you'll be one of them.
Jim Bettinger
