Apply for the 2020 NAHJ Chicago journalism scholarships: Deadline July 13

The NAHJ Chicago 2019 scholarship recipients: Matthew Mata/Loyola University, Erica Carbajal/ Depaul University and Jose Zepeda/ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — The NAHJ Chicago 2019 scholarship recipients: Jose Zepeda/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Erica Carbajal/ Depaul University, and Matthew Mata/Loyola University.

It’s that time of the year again! NAHJ Chicago is officially accepting applications for our annual scholarships for Latino students.

This year, we are offering 3 separate $4,000 scholarships to help Latino students fund their education. This is all possible thanks to the support of NAHJ Chicago members and sponsors. During our annual “Nuevo Comienzo” fundraiser in February 2020, they helped us raise approximately $8,000! That is the largest amount raised since our fundraiser began in 2015.

Now, more than ever, we need Latino journalists representing and elevating the voice of our community in newsrooms across the country. NAHJ Chicago is thrilled to support these young journalists and encourage them to reach their goals.

In order to qualify, students must meet the following criteria by our deadline on July 13:

College-bound high school seniors, college undergraduates, or graduate students at Illinois colleges/universities.
Must be pursuing careers in English or Spanish-language print, broadcast, digital, or photojournalism.
Academic performance will be considered, but no minimum grade point average is required.
Applicants must demonstrate awareness of issues in Latino communities.

Materials

Materials from applicants for the scholarships must be sent via email to nahj.chi@gmail.com by July 13, 2020. All materials and attachments should be included in the same email. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The scholarships will be awarded on August 3, 2020.

Resume: One-page resume listing your educational background, work history, awards, journalism-related internships, other scholarships, language proficiency, and any work done for your school or community newspaper, radio and/or television.
School transcripts: A transcript is required from the most recent institution you have attended.
Financial Needs Statement: This part of the application asks for details on the applicant’s expenses and income. This information is used by the NAHJ Scholarship Selection Committee to assess financial need.
Essay: Please submit a typed, double-spaced, essay of 500 words or less. The essay should focus on why you are choosing a career in journalism given the current climate and/or why it is important to have Latinos in the newsroom.
Samples of your best work: These include print, digital, television, radio, or photo samples. Please limit to three. Work Samples may be in English or Spanish. Judges will be viewing all applications in a web browser, so make sure your work is formatted for the web.

Print Samples: Articles published in a college campus or community newspaper or magazine or online.
Television & radio samples: Should be no longer than 3 minutes. Supply the links to videos/audios that already are posted on the internet. If it’s posted on YouTube/Vimeo/Soundcloud make sure it’s posted as a public video.
Photojournalism Samples: Should be saved as.JPG. Make sure the photo’s resolution is at 72 dpi and no larger than 600K file size.

We look forward to reviewing your application!