Scholarship Description
The scholarship award for the 2017-2018 academic year will provide up to $5,000 in tuition funding to an LGBTQ student who plans a career in journalism and is committed to furthering NLGJA’s mission of fair and accurate coverage of the LGBTQ community.
Recipients of the Aarons Scholarship receive the award at NLGJA’s annual New York Benefit: Headlines & Headliners. Attendance, travel and accommodations are provided by NLGJA.
Contributors
NLGJA is grateful to its members, friends and corporate sponsors who have contributed to the NLGJA Scholarship Fund, including CNN’s inaugural gift of $100,000 in January of 2006.
See complete information here: http://www.nlgja.org/resources/aarons/
Deadline
May 31
Background
Leroy F. Aarons dedicated his life to journalism. He believed that the LGBTQ community could advance if the news media fairly and accurately portrayed the lives of LGBTQ individuals and their issues. This simple but visionary idea became the foundation for NLGJA.
Aarons knew that coverage of the LGBTQ community, as well as that of other minority communities, required increasing sophistication and training for journalists. He realized early that improving coverage had to start in the training camps for young journalists – journalism schools at the nation’s colleges and universities. In NLGJA’s 15th year, the Leroy F. Aarons Scholarship Award was established to honor Aarons’ memory and to continue the work he began when he founded NLGJA in 1990.
Criteria
Applicants must be planning to pursue a career in journalism, be able to demonstrate their passion and commitment to the profession. Selection will be based on journalistic and scholastic ability. Applicants also must demonstrate an awareness of the issues facing the LGBTQ community and the importance of fair and accurate news coverage.
For undergraduates, a declared major in journalism and/or communications is desirable but not required. Non-journalism majors may demonstrate their commitment to a journalism career through work samples, internships, and work on a school news publication, online news service or broadcast affiliate.
Who Can Apply
Current or incoming undergrad students enrolled in a U.S. community college or four-year university. Proof of acceptance or current enrollment required. A GPA of 3.2 is required and must be maintained throughout the scholarship dispersement period.
How to Apply
A complete application package should be submitted electronically. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Application packages should include:
Application.
One-page résumé.
Five work samples as described under work samples.
Proof of attendance: a letter of acceptance or a letter of enrollment from a U.S. community college or four-year university (contact Sachelle@nlgja.org for exceptions). Scanned coppies accepted.
Write and publish a news story to tumblr of words and multimedia.
The story can be pitched or chosen from these topics:
Profile a senior LGBTQ activist in your community. Use text, video, audio, stills, and/or infographics to show this person’s story and role in the community.
Address a legislative initiative in your community that impacts the LGBTQ population. Use text, video, audio, stills, and/or infographics to show the impact.
Cover an LGBTQ event in your community. Use text, video, audio, stills, and/or infographics to cover different aspects of the event.
Pitch it to our staff: aarons@nlgja.org.
Any audio or video element should be between 2 and 5 minutes. Photo galleries should have between 10 and 30 photos. Infographics should be limited to two graphics. Text should be no more than 750 words. Stories do not require all elements, but should be designed for online consumption where users expect a rich multi media presentation.