USA Scholarships
Fully Funded Professional Fellowship the USA

Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship 2027

Deadline Planning target: late January 2027, no published cutoff 136 days left · Hosted by Alfred Friendly Press Partners and the Missouri School of Journalism · Published

The Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship is a funded month of training in Columbia, Missouri for foreign journalists who are already living in exile in the United States. Alfred Friendly Press Partners runs it with the Missouri School of Journalism, and the foundation pays the essential costs of taking part: housing, food and transportation. The 2025 round selected ten fellows and two backups, closed on 30 January 2025 and ran that June. The 2026 round opened on 2 October 2025 and its class of fellows was published in September 2026, so a 2027 announcement is the next one expected. No 2027 closing date has been published yet, and the late January date on this page is a planning target drawn from the last published deadline rather than a cutoff the foundation has announced.

Housing, food, transport
Costs covered
Training in Missouri
4 weeks
Planning target only
Late Jan 2027
Living in the US
Journalists in exile
How to apply Am I eligible? Official website

What is the Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship?

The Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship is a month of funded training in Columbia, Missouri, built for journalists who have had to leave their own country and are now working from the United States. Alfred Friendly, a Pulitzer Prize winner at the Washington Post, set the foundation up in 1983 after a conversation with his son about giving something back to the profession. He died before the first class arrived in 1984. Four decades later the programme he started is still going, run with the Missouri School of Journalism, and it has reached journalists from 90 countries.

What it looks like has changed, and that matters if you are applying. For most of its life this was a six-month posting in an American newsroom, where a reporter from Nepal or Ukraine or India spent half a year at a US paper and went home with new methods. In 2024 the foundation rebuilt the programme around a different problem. Autocracy has pushed a lot of good journalists out of their countries, and many of them landed in the United States with their work half dismantled. So the fellowship became four weeks of in-person training for exactly that group, covering security, legal ground, journalism skills and entrepreneurship, with the psychological weight of exile treated as part of the curriculum rather than a side conversation.

The money side is simple. There is no fee, and the foundation pays the essential costs of the month: housing, food and transportation. No stipend figure is published, so treat the fellowship as a fully covered training month rather than paid work. Selection is small and personal. The 2025 round chose ten fellows plus two backups, every finalist was interviewed, and the class that came out of it included reporters from Afghanistan, Belarus and Venezuela who describe the month in terms closer to recovery than to professional development. The 2026 class, published in September 2026, brought in journalists from Tibet, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Bangladesh.

For 2027, the honest position is that the call has not gone up yet. The 2025 round was announced in September 2024 and closed on 30 January 2025. The 2026 round opened on 2 October 2025 and its fellows were published in September 2026. On that rhythm the next announcement should land in autumn 2026, with a deadline in the new year, which is where the late January target on this page comes from. Keep an eye on the applications block on presspartners.org and the foundation's News page, and write to [email protected] if you want to be told when the form opens. If you are a journalist in exile in the US, this is one of the few programmes designed for your situation rather than adapted to it.

Who can apply

Eligibility

Your progress 0 / 6
  • ✓
    A working journalist living in exile in the US
    The current programme is built for foreign journalists who have left their home country and are now in the United States. Alfred Friendly Press Partners redesigned its training in 2024 around that group, so the fellowship is no longer a general overseas recruitment round.
  • ✓
    From a country where the press is under pressure
    The foundation describes its work as preparing journalists from information hungry societies with underdeveloped or threatened media. Recent classes have included reporters and editors from Tibet, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Bangladesh.
  • ✓
    English proficiency
    The foundation stated plainly in its last published call that English proficiency is required. It names no test and no score, so treat this as a working standard rather than an exam you have to sit.
  • ✓
    Able to attend in person for the full month
    Training happens on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, not online. The 2025 round ran through June, so plan for a summer month away from your newsroom and your usual routine.
  • ✓
    Willing to be interviewed by the selection committee
    Every finalist is interviewed before the class is set. The last published round picked ten fellows plus two backups in case someone had to withdraw, which tells you how small and how competitive the field is.
  • ✓
    Honest about gaps caused by exile
    The foundation expects some applicants will not be able to answer every question on the form because of how they left. Its own advice is to explain the reason in a few sentences rather than abandoning the application.
What you get

Benefits

  • Four-week training programme No fee to fellows
  • Housing during the programme Covered
  • Food Covered
  • Transportation tied to the programme Covered
  • Teaching at the Missouri School of Journalism Included
  • Cash stipend or salary None published
  • Visa sponsorship Not offered, fellows are already in the US
  • International airfare Not part of the current programme
  • Security training Core curriculum area
  • Legal training Core curriculum area
  • Journalism craft Core curriculum area
  • Entrepreneurship Added for the 2026 round
  • The psychosocial side of exile Embedded from day one
  • A cohort of about ten journalists Selected with two backups in 2025
  • Alumni network built since 1984 350+ journalists from 90 countries
  • Six-month US newsroom placement Retired when the model changed in 2024
  • A job or newsroom placement afterwards Not promised
What to prepare

Document checklist

Documents gathered 0 / 7
  • ✓
    The online application form
    Applications run through a hosted form linked from the announcement on presspartners.org. The foundation publishes no separate document checklist, so the form itself sets what you have to provide.
  • ✓
    Your professional journalism record
    Have your outlets, roles, beats and years in the field written out before you open the form. Recent fellows arrived from Radio Free Asia, Reuters and national newspapers, so the committee is reading career detail rather than academic transcripts.
  • ✓
    An account of your exile
    Why you left, when you left, and what your work looks like now. This sits at the centre of the selection, because the whole month is designed around journalists in that position.
  • ✓
    Your current US contact details
    Where you live now, how to reach you, and the practical information the organisers need to arrange housing and local travel for the month.
  • ✓
    Work samples
    Links or files showing recent reporting. The foundation does not publish a required number or format, so send what best represents the work you want to keep doing.
  • ✓
    Availability for the training month
    Confirm you can be in Columbia for the full four weeks. Partial attendance defeats the point of a cohort programme built on people spending the month together.
  • ✓
    Questions for the team, if you have them
    The last published call gave a direct contact for queries about the application, alongside the general [email protected] address. Ask before the deadline rather than after it.
Step by step

How to apply

This is a month of in-person training in Missouri for journalists already in exile in the United States. If you are applying from abroad hoping for a US newsroom posting, the programme you are thinking of ended when Alfred Friendly redesigned its training in 2024.
The applications block sits on the foundation's home page at presspartners.org and every round is announced on its News page. The 2025 call went up on 3 September 2024 and the 2026 call on 2 October 2025, so early autumn is when to start checking.
The Apply Now button in each announcement leads to a hosted online form. That form is the only route in, and the foundation does not take applications by email.
The committee is choosing a cohort, not ranking CVs. Say what you were covering, what forced you out, and what you are trying to build now that you are reporting from the United States.
Alfred Friendly tells applicants directly that exile can make some questions impossible to answer, and asks for a short explanation instead. Leaving a field blank with no note is worse than saying why it is blank.
All finalists are interviewed by the selection committee before the class is fixed. Expect questions about your reporting, your situation and what you want the month to change.
The 2025 round ran for a month in June at the Missouri School of Journalism. Keep a summer month clear once you have applied, because the value of this programme is in the group being together for all of it.
When

Deadline and timeline

Application deadline
Planning target: late January 2027, no published cutoff
136 days left
Sep - Oct 2026
The next call is expected. The 2025 round opened on 3 September 2024 and the 2026 round on 2 October 2025, both announced on the foundation's News page.
Late Jan 2027
Planning target for the closing date. The last published cutoff was midnight on 30 January 2025. No 2027 date has been announced.
Feb - Mar 2027
Committee review, followed by interviews with every finalist.
Spring 2027
Fellows notified. The 2025 round named ten fellows and kept two backups in reserve.
Mid 2027
The four-week training runs at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. The 2025 programme took place in June.
After the programme
Fellow profiles go up on the Fellows page and you join an alumni network that reaches 90 countries. The 2026 class was published in September 2026.
Questions

FAQ

What is the Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship?

It is a funded training programme for journalists, run by the Alfred and Jean Friendly Foundation with the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri. It started in 1984 as a way of bringing reporters from developing countries into American newsrooms. Since 2024 it has taken a different shape: a four-week in-person course for foreign journalists who are living in exile in the United States, covering security, legal questions, journalism craft and entrepreneurship.

Is the Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship still running?

Yes. The foundation published its 2026 class of fellows in September 2026, with profiles of journalists from Tibet, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Bangladesh, and its home page still carries an applications block. Nothing on the site says the programme is paused. What has not appeared yet is the call for the next round, which is why this guide treats the 2027 dates as planning targets.

Who is eligible for the Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship 2027?

Foreign journalists in exile in the United States, from countries where the press is under pressure, with enough English to take part in a month of training taught in English. The foundation has not published a minimum age, a degree requirement or a years-of-experience floor. Recent fellows have ranged from newsroom leaders with two decades behind them to reporters much earlier in their careers.

Does the Alfred Friendly fellowship pay a stipend?

The foundation covers the essential costs of the programme rather than paying a salary. Its last detailed call said housing, food and transportation would be covered, and there is no fee to take part. No cash stipend figure is published, so budget for the month on the basis that your living costs during the training are handled and nothing else is promised.

When is the Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship 2027 deadline?

There is no published 2027 deadline. The last date the foundation printed was midnight on 30 January 2025, for the round that ran that June. The 2026 round opened on 2 October 2025 without a closing date in the announcement. Late January 2027 is a reasonable planning target on that pattern, but confirm it against the official call when it appears rather than treating it as fixed.

How many journalists are selected each year?

Around ten. The 2025 call said the committee would pick ten fellows plus two backups in case anyone had to withdraw, and the 2026 class published on the Fellows page lists seven journalists. Either way this is a small cohort, chosen after interviews with every finalist.

Is this still a six-month placement in a US newsroom?

No. The original Alfred Friendly model put fellows into American newsrooms for six months, and you will still find that description in older write-ups and in the foundation's own donation pages. The training changed in 2024 because of what the foundation called the pressure autocracy has put on journalists worldwide. What runs now is a month of concentrated training in Missouri, not a newsroom posting.

How many journalists has Alfred Friendly trained since 1984?

The foundation's own figures differ depending on where you look. Its home page says 352 journalists from 90 countries since 1984 and counts more than 350 alumni, while its 2025 and 2026 announcements say nearly 400 and then over 400. The safe reading is several hundred journalists across four decades. If the exact number matters for something you are writing, ask the foundation directly at [email protected].

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