The Persephone Miel Fellowship supports journalists from outside the U.S. and Western Europe who are pursuing ambitious reporting projects and enable them to bring their work to a broader global audience.
ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP
The Persephone Miel Fellowship is overseen by the Pulitzer Center and was launched in partnership with Internews, a media development nonprofit. The fellowship benefits journalists with limited access to other fellowships and those whose work is not routinely disseminated internationally. The fellowship is named in honor of Persephone Miel, the former senior advisor of Internews, who dedicated her life to advancing the work of journalists across the globe. Miel fellowships involve reporting from within the applicant's native country—or following migrant communities from there to other locations—but the stories are placed in international outlets.
See the announcement of the fellowship at the Internews ceremony in honor of Persephone in October 2010.
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting will provide a grant of up to $5,000 for a reporting project on topics and regions of global importance, with an emphasis on issues that have gone unreported or underreported in the mainstream media. Specific grant terms are negotiated during the application process based on the scope of proposed work and intended outcomes. Payment of the first half of the grant is disbursed at the beginning of the project, upon receipt of required materials, and the second half on submission of the principal work for publication/broadcast.
The Pulitzer Center also offers the fellow the opportunity to be mentored by a journalist from our global network of grantees.
The Center works with fellowship recipients to distribute their work across international media outlets to reach the widest possible audience. Projects with multimedia components that combine print, photography, and video are strongly encouraged. If you intend to publish your project only in local outlets in your country, you can apply to our regular reporting grants instead.
Learn how you can support the Persephone Miel Fellowship Fund.
MIEL FELLOWSHIP PROJECT
Who Takes Care of Nanny's Children?
When Filipino women leave their families to find work abroad, they view migration as a necessary sacrifice to obtain the two things that will secure a future for their children: a home and an education. For many women, migrating to find work becomes a cycle of leaving and coming back, only to leave again when economic opportunities in the Philippines prove to be insufficient.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"The Miel Fellowship gave me financial support needed for these cross-border investigations but more than that, it gave me the gift of time. Time that allowed me to set aside my checklist of interview questions to invite a conversation. Time to immerse myself in these women’s lives so I could see them as not subjects but as mothers—just like me. Time that gave them permission to trust me enough to carry a piece of them home when they could not. Professionally, the Miel Fellowship became the foundation on which I built the rest of my journalism career."
ANA SANTOS
2014 Persephone Miel Fellow
ELIGIBILITY
The Persephone Miel Fellowships support freelance and staff journalists, photographers, radio producers, and filmmakers outside the U.S. and Western Europe who are seeking to report from their home country but would like to broaden the reach of their reporting by publishing it in international outlets.
Each year, a fellowship recipient is selected by the Pulitzer Center. Selection is based on the strength of the proposed topic and the strength of the applicant's work as demonstrated in his or her work samples. We look for projects that explore systemic issues in the journalist’s native country and that provide an overarching thesis, rather than individual spot reports from the field.
Questions? Contact [email protected].
MIEL FELLOWSHIP PROJECT
What the Snow Can Teach
Participating in the first Arctic Snow School, the team that spans six countries is coming together at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay in Nunavut, Canada, April 1-8, 2023. Together, they're hoping to answer questions such as: What can Arctic snow tell us about the fate of our future? How can studying Arctic snow help us brainstorm solutions to accelerated climate change?
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"The Persephone Miel fellowship was instrumental in helping me report long-form and multimedia stories about Nunavut and Canada's North. It supported my work in national and international publications, providing funding but also connecting me with editors and outlets I had not worked with before. As an early-career journalist at the time, the fellowship was a launchpad in more than one way, as well as an opportunity to strengthen storytelling in partnership with Inuit and Indigenous communities, many of whom I continue to learn from and work with even today."
MERAL JAMAL
2023 Persephone Miel Fellow
MEET THE PERSEPHONE MIEL FELLOWS
MIEL FELLOWSHIP PROJECT
Climate Change in Iran
In this project I have been traveling to all parts of Iran to take photos of a country that, according to NASA data, is in danger of losing 35 percent of its currently inhabited territory over the next 20 years.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“The fellowship has had a profound impact on both my professional and personal life. Ten years ago, when I received the fellowship, I had the opportunity to discuss climate change and water issues in Iran, which are still prevalent and worsening daily. The support from the Pulitzer Center boosted my self-confidence and reinforced the significance of my photographic ideas."
AKO SELEMI
2016 Persephone Miel Fellow