Longer description of your proposed project

We support impact-focused journalists to highlight and solve the most pressing global problems. In 2024, we will focus exclusively on supporting fellows covering artificial intelligence.

In 2024, we'll run 3 programmes.

1. Tarbell Fellowship. Our flagship programme will provide 5 early career journalists with a 9-month placement at a major newsroom, a $50k stipend, and training in AI fundamentals.

2. Tarbell Voices. A 6-month pilot to support a diverse set of journalists covering AI. We’ll provide training, in-house editing, and pitching assistance to place pieces in major outlets.

3. Oxford AI Journalism Conference. A 3-day conference for up to 50 journalists covering AI. We expect this conference to help kickstart a wider Tarbell community which we’ll nurture in the coming 10+ years to become a driving force in the world of journalism.

TARBELL FELLOWSHIP 2024

The Tarbell Fellowship is a 12-month programme for early career journalists interested in covering artificial intelligence. In 2024, we expect to support 5 Tarbell Fellows.

We will select the final cohort in early January and finalise placements for selected Tarbell Fellows by March.

• Online Training (March - May): Fellows participate in an online programme covering AI technical and governance fundamentals. Fellows will dedicate ~10 hours per week and sessions will include lectures from AI experts, writing assignments, and readings.

• Oxford Summit (17-28 June): Fellows attend a two week summit in Oxford at the beginning of the fellowship. This will be an intensive fortnight of guest speakers, workshops and networking events in Oxford and London. Travel and accommodation costs will be fully covered.

• Placement (July 2024 - March 2025): Fellows secure a funded 9-month placement at a major newsroom. During their placement, fellows will primarily cover AI, likely on the tech or politics desk. We will assist all fellows in securing a placement by connecting them with relevant outlets, arranging interviews, and providing a stipend of up to $50,000 pro rata. Placements are arranged on a relatively bespoke basis, based on the skills of fellows and the needs of media outlets.

TARBELL VOICES (PILOT)

Tarbell Voices is a 6-month programme we will pilot in 2024. This programme will support a diverse array of voices to contribute to the conversation on artificial intelligence ranging from an early-career journalist in South Africa to an expert working full-time in the AI governance space.

During our pilot, we will select 10-20 individuals to participate. They will receive:

• Journalism training from experienced journalists (March - May) 3+ online workshops covering topics like pitch writing, research & pre-interviews, and journalistic writing.

• In-house editing & pitching assistance (March - September). Work closely with our team to produce an article each month on AI. We will provide in-house editing and pitching assistance to place these pieces in major outlets.

• Access to the Tarbell community (forever). We are building an alumni network of impact-focused journalists that can support each other throughout their careers. Participants will gain access to this community & receive ongoing support throughout their career.

OXFORD AI JOURNALISM CONFERENCE

Our ambition is to cultivate a thriving community of impact-focused journalists working at major newsrooms and publications around the globe. We expect the annual Oxford Conference to become a key aspect of this.

We envisage hosting a ~3 day annual conference in June which coincides with the annual Oxford Summit. It would be highly selective, for impact-focused journalists to share ideas, reflect on their priorities, and increase their impact. In 2024, we hope to pilot this conference by inviting 30-50 journalists to attend, focused exclusively on journalism covering AI.

Other services we expect to offer in future include:

• Local events. Selective networking events in key journalism hubs for members of the Tarbell community. We expect New York and London to be pilot locations for this.

• Tarbell Slack. An invite-only discussion space for impact-focused journalists. We will grow this group slowly & deliberately over the coming year.

• Ongoing training. We expect to run relevant sessions for the Tarbell community to help them excel throughout their careers.

Describe why you think you're qualified to work on this

1. The Tarbell Fellowship has experienced success to date.

   • In our inaugural year (2023), we selected 5 full-time fellows from a competitive pool of 950+ candidates. We placed three at TIME, one at Coda, and supported another to freelance with the New Yorker.

   • Fellows have successfully transitioned to impact-focused roles in journalism: Anna has been hired by TIME. She expects to cover global development across her career. Mathias has been hired by Semafor. He expects to cover nuclear policy and national security. Will has received philanthropic funding to support his journalism. He will cover risks from AI. Yasmin’s upcoming New Yorker piece covers intimate partner violence. Her 2022 piece on nursing homes is likely to result in major legislative change.

2. We have a strong team with relevant expertise.

   • Cillian Crosson (Executive Director) founded Training for Good in 2021, an organisation with an annual budget of >$1m, and launched the Tarbell Fellowship in 2022. He was selected from ~3,000 candidates for the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program (the Y-Combinator of the nonprofit world). While at Trinity College Dublin, he received multiple scholarships for outstanding academic performance and completed a research thesis focused on the implications on AI-generated literature.

   • https://www.linkedin.com/in/cillian-crosson/

   • Emily Dardaman (AI Journalism Lead) is a five-year BCG / BCG BrightHouse veteran, where she researched the societal impacts of advanced artificial intelligence. She recently co-authored a seminal GovAI report on the risks and benefits of open sourcing foundation models. Emily holds an MA in Emerging Media which covered emerging technology strategy, design thinking, and project management.

   • https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-dardaman/

   • Shakeel Hahsim (Senior AI Editor) was previously a news editor at The Economist. He co-founded the AI Safety Communications Centre, a project connecting journalists to AI safety experts and resources. Prior to that, he was a growth manager and newsletter writer at Protocol, a financial journalist for Finimize, and the founder of an AI-journalism company selected by Google for their Launchpad programme.

   • https://www.linkedin.com/in/shakeelhashim/

Other ways I can learn about you

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cillian-crosson/

How much money do you need?

$405k = total funding gap; $32k = Tarbell Voices (note that I expect this might be what ACXG is interested in covering); $65k = Oxford AI Journalism Conference; ~$305k Operations Expenses + remaining budget for the 2024 Tarbell Fellowship

Links to any supporting documents or information

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ta8xiqOXJf70oGkPWGaXsBy2_InZDnvoizkpsxKq3cU/preview

Estimate your probability of succeeding if you get the amount of money you asked for

• Tarbell Fellowship 2024. 60% likely that 1/5 fellows (or more) will be working in major newsrooms in 5 years (i.e. outlets with 5+ million monthly readers) covering artificial intelligence with min 20% of their writing.

• Tarbell Voices.

70% likely that the cohort collectively published 3+ articles in a major outlet during their 6-month period (i.e. outlet with 5+ million monthly readers).