About The American Prospect

The Program | The Magazine | The Application | The FAQ

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The deadline for 2010 applications is April 1.

The Program

The American Prospect's Writing Fellows Program offers journalists at the beginning of their career the opportunity to spend two full years at the magazine in Washington, D.C., actively developing their journalistic skills. Each fellow will write a minimum of three to four full-length feature articles. Fellows will also regularly write shorter, online pieces and blog daily for TAPPED. We are seeking candidates who are opinionated and comfortable generating article ideas rather than relying on assignments. A passion for blogging is appreciated.

Fellows are expected and encouraged to write for other publications, build relationships with outside editors and reporters, and establish rapport with contacts at think tanks and in academia. The goal is to ensure that, once the fellowship is completed, fellows will have developed the relationships, track record, and credibility (and clips!) to further pursue careers as respected journalists. Past Prospect writing fellows have gone on to work and write for The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, The Atlantic, Slate, Salon, Mother Jones, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and many other publications.

Fellows are required to make a one-year commitment. After that year, the Prospect and the fellow will evaluate and determine whether to renew for a second year. The fellowship pays under $30,000 the first year and includes health and dental benefits.

The Magazine

The American Prospect was founded in 1990 as an authoritative magazine of liberal ideas committed to a just society, enriched democracy, and effective progressive politics. Our 22-person team, augmented by many freelance contributors and friends, produces 10 printed magazines per year, a daily Web site, and an award-winning group blog. Through these media, we spread the new ideas and critical analyses necessary to support an informed public discourse and effective democracy.

The Application

Applicants are asked to submit the following:

A short critique of:
1) one of the following three pieces: "Don't Blame the Billionaires," by Dalton Conley; "Gentrification Hangover," by Alyssa Katz; "The Ultimate Test Case," by Tim Fernholz
2) one additional Prospect piece of your choosing.
This portion of your critique should engage with the argument of the pieces.

A short critique of our group blog TAPPED. This critique should address style, clarity, readability, voice/place in the political dialogue, as well as more substantive questions of content. What works? What doesn't?

Two written recommendations.

Three to four writing samples. These can include newspaper and magazine clips, academic papers, blog posts, and unpublished pieces -- anything that demonstrates exceptional writing and analytical ability.

Three story ideas for The American Prospect.

Your resume.

Your college and (if applicable) graduate school transcripts.

All applications should be sent to:
Emily Parsons
Writing Fellows Program
The American Prospect
1710 Rhode Island Ave. NW, 12th Fl.
Washington, DC 20036

Please contact Emily Parsons with any questions at eparsons@prospect.org.

AA/EOE: People of color and women are strongly encouraged to apply; we are committed to a diverse workplace and to supporting our people with ongoing career-development opportunities.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the American Prospect Writing Fellowship

1. The application deadline refers to postmarked, not received. Please have your applications postmarked by the due date; don't worry if we don't receive them exactly on the due date. However, if you are sending in your application at the last minute, we strongly encourage that you use FedEx or Priority Mail. If you are an applicant from abroad and are sending in your application at the last minute, we strongly encourage you to use some sort of express service.

2. Please do not fax your application. Faxed applications are hard to read and easy to lose.

3. However, you may have your recommendations faxed or e-mailed if necessary. Sometimes recommendation writers prefer to fax in their recommendations. Because we appreciate the delicacy of recommendation-requesting and -writing, it is OK if these are faxed. However, we do prefer written, signed, and sealed recommendations whenever possible.

4. It is OK for recommendations to arrive separately from the rest of your applications. This is normal, especially if your recommendation writers are sending us their letters separately. It is more convenient for us to receive everything together but not required. However, all recommendations -- and all other parts of your application -- must be sent in on time, which means postmarked or faxed in by the due date.

5. The critiques are the most important part of your application. It is the way that we, the editors, evaluate your analytical ability, intellectual sophistication, and individual interests. Do not give the critiques short shrift. Poor or too-brief critiques paired with a brilliant and witty cover letter and good article ideas are rarely the best applications.

6. The critiques are not a summary of the articles or a commentary on layout and design. What we want to know is how effective you think the articles are, substantively, and why.

7. The length of the critiques can vary. But they are not meant to be a graduate thesis -- keep the three critiques under five pages total.

8. Feel free to use the online edition. Sometimes applicants are unable to find a copy of the magazine. All content from the print magazine is available on our Web site.

9. Do not sweat your transcript. We ask for it more to see what kinds of courses you've taken -- what you intellectual interests are -- than to check your grades. But please do send us one. If you are applying from graduate school, we would like to see both your undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

10. The article ideas are important. They are not an afterthought. They are an important way for us to gauge what your journalistic interests are and what you might be interested in writing about during your fellowship. The ideas can be anywhere from a paragraph or two to a page each in length.

11. The term "writing samples" should be taken broadly. We want writing that demonstrates that you are capable of writing for a prominent national political magazine. This can include anything from outstanding class papers to newspaper and magazine clips to research reports written for think tanks or advocacy groups.

12. However, do not send published or unpublished letters to the editor that you have written to other magazines or newspapers. We don't consider these to be writing samples.

13. We do not demand that every applicant have a great deal of journalism experience. Years of summer internships at newspapers and magazines are not required, although they are certainly not a negative. We are looking for intellectual, politics- and policy-oriented candidates with strong writing and analytical abilities.