To help defray the cost of attending our conferences, OpenNews offers a limited number of travel scholarships for attendees from communities that are often underrepresented in journalism and tech.

This year, we’re partnering with the News Integrity Initiative to provide Diversity Scholarships for journalists of color to attend SRCCON:WORK. We will also have a small number of scholarships available to facilitators and white journalists from local and regional news organizations.

What we’re offering

A ticket to SRCCON:WORK and $500 for you to use toward the cost of travel to the event. (For scholarship recipients who live in the Philadelphia area, we offer a SRCCON:WORK ticket without the additional travel funding.)

Who should apply

• Journalists of color who work with technology
• Facilitators who would be unable to attend without a scholarship
• White journalists who work with technology from local and regional news organizations

How to apply

Select the “Would you like to be considered for a SRCCON:WORK scholarship?” option on the form to tell us why you’d like to attend SRCCON:WORK. A few scholarship-specific questions will then pop onto the form. The form is open through October 18.

When notifications go out

Notifications for scholarships will go out alongside invitations to attend.

What happens after SRCCON:WORK

You tell us how it went! We’ll send you a short follow up survey and will be excited to check out any blog posts or brown bags that come out of your participation at SRCCON:WORK.

Why are you offering this scholarship?

We know that travel costs can be a hardship, and offer this scholarship as a way to help mitigate that. In particular we want to make sure that journalists of color and members of other under-represented groups in journalism tech are able to attend.

How do you decide who will receive a scholarship?

OpenNews staff reviews all applications. We prioritize applications from journalists of color, members of other communities under-represented in journalism and technology, and folks from smaller and non-coastal newsrooms.

Do I still need to purchase a ticket to SRCCON:WORK?

If you receive a scholarship, you will not have to purchase a ticket.

When will I receive my scholarship?

When we notify scholarship recipients, we will include information about how to receive the scholarship funds. In short, you will need to send us an invoice and our administrators will process the payment. It may take a month or so for check processing.

What if I need more than $500 for my travel?

We’re able to offer $500 scholarships at this time. Luckily, Philadelphia is a relatively cheap city once you arrive. Also, this entire site runs off a Github repo so if you say, wanted to add a link to a room-share board, you could go right ahead and do that. Or, you can email with any suggestions.

Questions not covered here?

Email us.