Steve Steinberg Reporting Award summer funding opportunity 2024

The Department of Communication is excited to announce a funding opportunity for Stanford students interested in spending their summer working on their own long-form narrative reporting project:

Steve Steinberg Reporting Award

The Steve Steinberg Reporting Award gives Stanford University students the opportunity to spend a summer working on a long-form narrative reporting project with guidance from a journalism faculty member. 

Awardees will receive a stipend of $7,700, and an additional supplement of up to $7,300 is available for reporting expenses.

 Background on the award

The Steve Steinberg Reporting Award honors the memory of Steve Steinberg, a former editor at Wired magazine and columnist for the Los Angeles Times who later became a stock analyst focused on technology companies at Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Co. Steinberg, who died in 2020 at age 50 in a biking accident, was “A brilliant mind, a hacker at heart, a gifted writer, and a generous spirit,” as described in his obituary. 

What we’re looking for from applicants

A story idea of local, regional, national, or global import that tells us something about the world that we don’t know — one that requires deep, expansive, on-the-ground reporting and is best told in a long-form narrative. Among the goals are to broaden knowledge, inspire creativity and, ideally, spur action. The project should aspire to what Steinberg wrote in 2008 of the best writing: “It’s so provocative it forces me to reconsider everything before I can continue.”  

Eligibility

Any Stanford undergraduate or MA student is eligible to apply. This award may not be combined with other Stanford summer funding. 

Info session

Professors R.B. Brenner and Janine Zacharia will host an info session for prospective applicants February 29 from 12:00 - 1:00 pm via Zoom. Please register for the info session here.

How to apply

 Applications will be accepted March 8-22 and will include:

• A statement of not more than 300 words that explains your story idea and reporting strategy, why you are proposing to do it now, and why the work is relevant and compelling

• A budget estimate for expenses and a justification for each budget item. Costs could include housing for the summer, transportation, use of a translator, and expenses related to obtaining public records. Your budget for expenses may not exceed $7,300.

• Two samples of your journalistic work

• Stanford transcript

• Resume

• If University policies about award funding change and include travel restrictions, describe in one paragraph whether a version of the project could be done from your place of residence   

Finalists will be required to submit a more detailed reporting plan and references may be requested at that time.

For questions concerning the suitability of your proposed project, please contact journalism faculty members R.B. Brenner (rbbrenner@stanford.edu) or Janine Zacharia (zacharia@stanford.edu).

For all other questions, please contact Sarah Wert (wert@stanford.edu)

Steve Steinberg Reporting Award