The Texas Tribune 2026 Student Fellowships

The Texas Tribune is hiring for its 2026 fellowships. We are looking for creative, high-potential talent to join our trailblazing digital news organization.

The Tribune is the state’s premier digital-first news organization, providing in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of Texas politics and public policy. Our nonprofit newsroom covers a wide range of topics, such as public and higher education, health, immigration, politics and the environment. In addition to investigative reports, we produce robust journalism in a variety of formats — from data visualizations and searchable databases to explanatory guides and editorial events — all designed to bring greater transparency and accountability to public policy and government.

Tribune fellowships are paid positions for currently enrolled college students who work part-time in the spring and fall and who are full-time in the summer. Recent graduates are eligible for the summer program, but spring and fall fellows must be enrolled as community college, undergraduate or graduate students while they work at the Tribune.

Tribune fellowships are available to those seeking experience in the following fields: audience engagement, data visualization, engineering, events, marketing and communications, nonprofit resource development, photography, product development, graphic design, and reporting.

Why join our fellowship program?

Our fellows don't just observe — they contribute directly to our mission.

Non-journalism fellows are critical to ensuring we can continue to serve Texans with factual, nonpartisan news. We’re looking for college students eager to put their classroom lessons into practice and launch their careers while working toward a more engaged, better-informed, more civically aware Texas.

The Tribune’s newsroom fellowships offer practical experience in public service journalism. You'll work alongside our award-winning staff to produce meaningful, fact-driven work that informs Texans and holds power accountable. This isn’t just an internship — it’s a chance to have a real impact.

Tribune fellows have written about how a new law limits the use of parent-child reunification therapy in custody battles, taken photographs and video for a story about Llano River communities fighting a former oil executive’s plan for a private dam, and provided in-depth, data-driven reporting on how many Texans could lose health coverage under expiring tax credits.

See recent work by Texas Tribune fellows here.

How to apply

You may apply for more than one 2026 fellowship. Submit your application here for spring and summer fellowships by Nov. 2 and for fall fellowships by Feb. 15.

Find full descriptions of available fellowships below.

Questions?

For general questions about the fellowship program, please contact Andy Alford, the Tribune’s director of recruitment, training and career development, at andy.alford@texastribune.org. We do not accept applications by email.

About The Texas Tribune

Here’s what you should know about the Tribune. From day one, we’ve had disruption, innovation and risk-taking in our DNA. We’re ambitious as all get out but still have the punch-above-your-weight mentality of a scrappy start-up. We believe we can meet the demands of our audience and our own expectations for excellence without breaking the bank — or our staff. We understand not everything is a story for us — we have to make choices — but we’re always looking to expand our boundaries.

We’re nonprofit because the challenging economic reality for media these days obligates us to find a different way, reliable and sustainable, to fund serious journalism. We’re nonpartisan because we live in the United States of Confirmation Bias — and we don’t need to be part of the problem. We don’t need to be yet another source of information affirming the voices and perspectives that are already in people’s heads. At the same time, nonpartisan is not non-thinking. We call B.S. when B.S. needs to be called.

The Texas Tribune seeks to ensure that its newsroom and its news coverage reflect Texas by including a wide range of perspectives from people of different backgrounds, ideologies and experiences.

Learn more about The Texas Tribune here.

Community Engagement Fellowship — Waco

We’re looking for a fellow to assist in coordinating social media promotions for The Waco Bridge’s news and events.

We want creative self-starters who are reliable, quick on their feet and comfortable managing multiple projects at once.

This fellow drives audience and member engagement by working with the Community Engagement and Events Manager and the Editor-in-Chief to promote The Waco Bridge’s content and events on social media. Their work includes creating and managing the Bridge’s social media content on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok and Reddit.

This fellowship is based in Waco. Students must be able to work from our Waco offices and occasionally attend Bridge events in Waco.

Responsibilities

• Create social content based on the news of the day
• Engage audiences with short-form video content that highlights the Bridge’s news content by recording new short-form videos and editing new or existing videos
• Drive traffic and awareness for the publication across social media
• Assist with community outreach efforts through email and phone calls to help promote and coordinate Bridge events and meetings with the community
• Optimize social content and track performance
• Help the Bridge with copywriting, social media placement and field marketing of events.
• Help coordinate media appearances for Bridge journalists

Qualifications

• A major in marketing, communications, journalism, public relations or related fields
• Solid news judgment and experience writing on deadline.
• Sharp social copywriting skills and experience using social networks for promotion
• Experience producing and editing visual content (including social graphics, audio, video and/or other multimedia)

Questions? Contact Dominic Villa, Community Engagement & Events Manager for The Waco Bridge, at dominic.villa@wacobridge.org.

Data Visuals Fellowship

The Tribune’s award-winning data visuals department is a hybrid news applications and graphics team. We are journalists who work closely with reporters and editors to generate story ideas, gather public data and comb through the results. Then, we use what we find to tell data-driven, visual stories.

We seek creative journalists who can use code and graphics to help us tell stories with data. Fellows are important members of our team. In the past, they’ve had the opportunity to not only contribute to high-profile projects but to take the lead on them.

Ideal candidates have examples of creating graphics with JavaScript, Adobe Illustrator, Figma or a charting tool like Datawrapper. They also have experience analyzing data with Python or R. Candidates should be passionate about politics, policy and open government.

Questions? Contact Chris Essig, data visuals editor, at datavisualsfellowship@texastribune.org.

Engagement Fellowship

We’re hiring fellows to help engage audiences in our politics and policy coverage across platforms.

This may include packaging Tribune stories for Instagram, TikTok and Reddit; contributing to our daily newsletters; writing explainers or guides; and pitching and editing short-form videos or other original content for social platforms.

Ideal candidates have:

• Solid news judgment and experience reporting and writing on deadline.
• Sharp social copywriting skills and experience using social networks for newsgathering.
• Experience editing visual stories (including social graphics, audio, video and/or other multimedia). This is not required but is highly valued.

Questions? Contact Director of Audience Growth and Engagement Matt Adams at matt.adams@texastribune.org.

Engineering Fellowship — AI & machine learning

The Tribune’s engineering team supports technology and innovation efforts across the organization, including the core website and content management system, membership services, platform integrations, and analytics products. We are seeing and testing many opportunities for AI to enhance our products and processes across the organization, and we are seeking a fellow who is eager to dedicate efforts to AI in newsrooms, working with us to explore and build tools in this growing space.

Ideal candidates have experience with Python, Git, data management, and data science or visualization. Direct experience with AI, machine learning or large language models is a plus but not a requirement. We only require some technical chops and a willingness to learn and explore this new terrain with our engineering team.

Fellows will participate in biweekly sprints, work directly with engineers, and collaborate with departments, including editorial, design, membership and sponsorship. Specific AI/ML projects will be informed by the skills and interests of the fellow and the needs and capacities of the Tribune in this rapidly developing environment.

Note: This is not an editorial role or a data visuals position.

Questions? Contact Matthew McCrary, interim engineering manager, at matthew.mccrary@texastribune.org.

Events Fellowship

We seek fellows to join our events team to help coordinate, promote and execute some of the Tribune’s 40 annual events, including the annual Texas Tribune Festival.

Events fellows are responsible for crafting event listings, devising and executing event promotional strategies, and managing event production tasks. We want creative self-starters who are reliable, quick on their feet and comfortable managing multiple projects at once.

Questions? Contact Senior Director of Events and Live Journalism Matt Ewalt at matt.ewalt@texastribune.org.

Graphic Design Fellowship

The Tribune’s design team is looking for a graphic designer to assist with digital and print-related design production.

This position will help with a wide variety of tasks, including rapidly creating digital and print-related projects with sharp attention to detail. This individual will support our promotional and experiential materials for editorial, events, business, and marketing.

Join our fun team of skilled creatives and expand your portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Design and production for events; video and digital displays; printed materials, such as signage and wayfinding; and digital and print-based marketing materials
• Managing and updating sponsor and partner-related presence on event materials
• Taking existing designs and creating various sizes, matching the integrity of the original design for digital and print
• General typographic and graphic layouts for other projects across the organization

Required

• A digital portfolio demonstrating original design and layout skills
• Experience with the Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
• Familiarity or interest in digital and print workflows
• Experience in a collaborative professional environment, such as on design, editorial, marketing or advertising teams
• Willingness to work in a Mac environment (loaner laptops available)
• Comfortable working remotely

Questions? Contact Chief Creative Officer Jacob Villanueva at jvillanueva@texastribune.org.

Marketing and Communications Fellowship

Our marketing and communications fellows assist in coordinating marketing and media relations for Tribune products, including events and news. They help the MarCom team with copywriting, social media placement, project management and field marketing. They also assist with community outreach efforts through email and phone calls to increase awareness of and attendance at events, and they coordinate media interviews for Tribune reporters.

We need creative self-starters who can quickly learn and adapt to new systems and processes. Strong candidates can demonstrate their reliability in rapidly changing environments and their ability to work comfortably on multiple projects. Strong writing skills are a must; experience writing marketing copy is preferred.

Questions? Contact Director of Marketing & Communications Kerri Qunell at kerri.qunell@texastribune.org.

Photography Fellowship

We’re seeking aspiring photojournalists to shoot photos for The Texas Tribune in Central Texas and beyond.

Assignments have included political candidates on the campaign trail, protests at the state Capitol and portraits of those affected by state policy. Ideal candidates are equally comfortable with breaking news and feature photography and can quickly switch gears and go from a Capitol hearing to a college classroom.

Questions? Contact Pu Ying Huang, director of photography, at pyh@texastribune.org.

Product Fellowship

The Tribune’s product team works across departments to organize priorities and shepherd major projects and initiatives that support both editorial and business needs. We ensure that our technical and design resources are well-scoped and advocate for user experience and data-informed decision-making across the organization. We are looking for fellows who are committed to product and innovation in journalism to help us gather and analyze data to inform feature development and product prioritization.

Specific projects will be informed by the skills and interests of the fellow, but themes might include working with editorial and business units on dedicated user research projects, such as surveys, interviews, and user testing; analyzing and drawing conclusions from qualitative and quantitative data; constructing and communicating user personas; or conducting experiments and A/B tests to validate feature development.

Fellows will be full participants on the product team, joining regular stand-ups, meetings and sprints, and leading presentations with colleagues across departments ranging from editorial leadership to revenue and development staff. Ideal candidates will have experience with user research and familiarity with user experience design and the potential and challenges of measuring audience behavior.

Questions? Contact Darla Cameron, chief product officer, dcameron@texastribune.org.

Reporting Fellowship — Texas

The Texas Tribune reporting fellowship provides aspiring journalists the opportunity to hone their reporting skills and learn a host of new ones that will prepare them for the modern newsroom.

We look for fellows who are ready to dive into daily news and enterprise coverage — including reporting on elections and Texas’ biennial legislative sessions — alongside our seasoned reporting staff. Ideal candidates will have experience reporting and writing on deadline and an interest in covering state policy topics, such as health, education, immigration, criminal justice, and the environment, as well as the state’s changing demographics.

Previous fellows have written about the isolation of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic and South Asian American voters, among other topics.

Questions? Contact Brandon Formby, managing editor for news and state affairs, at bformby@texastribune.org.

Reporting Fellowship — Washington, D.C.

The Washington, D.C., reporting fellow works alongside the Washington correspondent to cover the Texas congressional delegation, U.S. House and Senate elections, and the biggest Texas news in the nation’s capital.

A must: experience reporting and writing on deadline. Nice to have: an obsession with politics or Texas (or both).

Questions? Contact Rebekah Allen, managing editor of enterprise and politics, at rallen@texastribune.org.

Resource Development Fellowship

We’re looking for students interested in learning about non-profit management; regulations and expectations of public and private funders, including grant requirements; and the behind-the-scenes work that supports sustainable nonprofit growth.

Your work will directly contribute to supporting our nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom’s mission of informing and engaging Texans about state politics and policy through live journalism events, in-depth news investigations, explanatory guides, and award-winning watchdog journalism, as well as breaking news and beat reporting informed by data.

We need creative self-starters who can quickly learn and adapt to new systems and processes. This fellow will work with the Development and Growth team to support various aspects of our fundraising efforts, including enhancing donor engagement by building relationships through various communication channels and events. Strong candidates can demonstrate their ability to prioritize to meet deadlines and their ability to work effectively on multiple projects simultaneously. Strong writing skills are a must; experience with grant writing is preferred.

This hands-on fellowship offers a valuable introduction to day-to-day nonprofit operations with a focus on grants management and donor relations. You'll have the chance to learn nonprofit fundraising and development and build your professional network by connecting with nonprofit leaders and funders committed to making Texas better through journalism and democratic principles.

Responsibilities

• Learning how nonprofit grants are managed from award to closeout and applying best practices for recordkeeping in grant-funded programs
• Compiling and reviewing support materials for funder reports
• Researching potential grant opportunities that align with the Tribune’s priorities
• Managing, sending, and documenting acknowledgement and thank you letters, phone calls, and messaging to donors
• Assisting in the coordination of signature events
• Working with the Development team and other departments on donation compliance and communications

Qualifications

• Ability to read and make sense of complex written material, such as grant guidelines, regulatory documents and program manuals
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication
• A major in business administration, public administration, non-profit management or related fields

Questions? Contact Development Director Genevieve Genest at genevieve.genest@texastribune.org.

Video Engagement Fellowship

The Video Engagement Fellow captures audiences through short-form video content that highlights breaking news, explainers, and trending stories, driving traffic and awareness for the publication across TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

This fellow will record new content and edit new or existing videos, as well as assist the team in developing and executing social media strategies. We’re looking for an ambitious trailblazer to work with the Tribune’s Audience and Product teams on overhauling our strategy for YouTube.

Responsibilities

• Producing daily videos for TikTok and YouTube Shorts
• Creating captions for clips
• Editing highlights from live breaking news on tight deadlines
• Contributing to multimedia posts on Instagram
• Document metrics from TikTok / YouTube Shorts

Qualifications

• Solid news judgment and experience reporting and writing on deadline
• Experience editing visual stories, including social graphics, audio, video or other multimedia
• Self-starting and ability to work independently, as well as within a team
• Ability to manage multiple projects at once
• Familiarity and experience with multimedia journalism is preferred.

Questions? Contact Director of Audience Growth and Engagement Matt Adams at matt.adams@texastribune.org.