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Civic Reporting Programs

City Bureau offers paid, intensive training opportunities for journalists who want to grow their reporting, engagement and leadership skills.

 
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Civic Reporting Programs at City Bureau are hands-on training opportunities where journalists of different experience levels can grow their skills in a supportive environment. At City Bureau, we emphasize racial equity, community engagement and co-learning. All program participants work closely with communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides to center the needs and narratives of people most directly affected by the issues we cover.

 

Apply for 2025 fellowship cycles with our rolling application here.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on future application cycles.

 

Fall 2024 fellows standing with City Bureau Engagement Reporter Jerrel Floyd.

Fall 2024: Your election questions, answered

We asked Chicago residents what they wanted to know about the November 2024 election and the electoral process. Check back here as we dig up answers to their questions.


Spring 2024: Youth mental health

How do teens and young adults access mental health services in Chicago — and what sort of resources do they need most? We’re looking into how the city is responding to their needs. Check back here to see what we find.


Winter 2024:
Migrant labor

Since August 2022, more than 35,000 asylum-seekers and migrants have come to Chicago via buses and planes from Texas. As we spoke to some recent arrivals, many said finding work was their No. 1 concern. Fellows will explore what that looks like in a city still figuring out how best to be a welcoming one.


Fall 2023:
Affordable housing
in Bronzeville

As developers eye Bronzeville for new housing projects, how can the historic Black Metropolis prioritize equity and avoid displacing long-time residents? Fellows will chronicle the journeys of those in search of housing, and looking into existing options for affordable, long-term housing in the neighborhood.


An illustration shows a banner reading "Temp Workers" and white vans surrounded by interested figures and city buildings.

Art: Veronica Martinez for City Bureau

Special series: Temp Workers

Are policymakers keeping their promises to reduce racial disparities in staffing agencies? We’ll learn from Black and Latinx workers about how policy decisions have impacted their lives.


Special series: Housing Cooperatives

Can housing cooperatives be a solution to the affordable housing crisis? Fellows will explore the history of co-ops in Chicago, particularly in communities of color, and the role the city has played in supporting them?

In an illustration, Chicago two-flat and six-flat buildings are held up by groups of hands.

Art: David Alvarado for City Bureau


A Growing Alumni Network

 
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Our 100+ past fellows and residents have gone on to do everything from founding their own media startups to working at news outlets as diverse as Block Club Chicago to the New York Times. Their award-winning reporting has inspired protests, policy changes and transformative conversations in communities across Chicago.

 

PAST RESIDENTS & FELLOWS

 
 

Not pictured: Adia Robinson, Evie Lacroix, Latricia Polk, Will Cabaniss 

 

Past Projects

If you’ve read a major investigation or reporting project from City Bureau—from the “Fraternal Order of Propaganda” investigative feature to “The Cord” text-messaging service for Black mothers and birthing people—it was most likely created by participants in our Civic Reporting Programs. Read more of our past projects below.