MISSION
Underscore News produces Indigenous-centered journalism that illuminates the intersections of sovereignty and justice and portrays the rich diversity of Native communities in the Pacific Northwest.

FELLOWSHIP HISTORY
Indigenous communities have historically been underrepresented — and often misrepresented — in media coverage. That pervasive underrepresentation has extended to the personnel of media organizations themselves.

Underscore works to address both shortcomings through our hiring, reporting and education/workforce development programming. Our centerpiece training program is the Underscore Indigenous Journalism Fellowship. We launched the fellowship in 2022 as a pilot project in partnership with the University of Montana’s School of Journalism and The Oregonian, the largest newspaper in the Pacific Northwest. The fellowship is now an annual summer program in its third year.

We designed the program to help equip and encourage the next generation of Indigenous journalists. Each summer, we host and train an Indigenous collegiate journalism student or early-career Indigenous journalist for an immersive 10-week internship, giving the fellow professional experience with a living wage while offering a scholarship upon completion.

Through the fellowship, we seek to provide a launching pad into the journalism profession, helping to facilitate an Indigenous journalist pipeline that will encourage more diverse representation in an industry that has long grappled with poor representation.

Under the training of our experienced newsroom staff, fellows have a chance to develop and showcase their skills, using our platform and republishing network to give them exposure and tools that will help them pursue a successful journalism career.

We designed the program through an equity lens, providing fully paid support for housing and transportation, in addition to hourly wages, as a way of removing barriers that have traditionally created a non-inclusive media intern system.

Our 2022 fellow was McKayla Lee (Diné) from the University of Montana. Our 2023 fellow was Carrie Johnson (Chickasaw and Pawnee) from Austin College in Texas.

PROGRAM DETAILS
● 10-week summer internship with full-time hours (30–40 hours/week)
○ June–August preferred, flexibility available for degree-seeking students
● $20/hour wage and desk at the Underscore News office in Portland, Oregon
● work and train under the guidance of senior staff and alongside fellow early-career Indigenous journalists
○ report and write in-depth stories
○ opportunities for audio and visual work
○ be published by Underscore News and its publishing partners
● access to weekly journalism trainings offered by The Oregonian, which also offer networking and camaraderie opportunities with The Oregonian’s roster of interns
● fully paid housing on the beautiful campus of Lewis and Clark College
● transportation stipend for move to and from Portland
● $2,000 scholarship upon completion of the program if candidate is a degree-seeking student who will be returning to school after the internship
● professional references and assistance from Underscore leadership for applications to jobs, graduate school or other opportunities

APPLICATION INFO
The application can be found here. The deadline is March 1. Please direct any questions to Myers Reece at mreece@underscore.news.