Dow Jones News Fund

What Dow Jones News Fund does

The Dow Jones News Fund (DJNF) is a private nonprofit foundation founded in 1960 and headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, that prepares college and high school students for journalism careers through paid internships, pre-internship training residencies, and multi-track fellowship programs. It operates as a subsidiary of News Corp through its Dow Jones affiliation and is primarily supported by the Dow Jones Foundation, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, and grants from foundations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (since 1968) and the O'Toole Family Foundation (since 2025). DJNF does not build proprietary technology; its core products are program-based: a national summer internship program placing 79-120 college students annually (from 800-1,000+ applicants) into 59-62 newsrooms; pre-internship editing, data journalism, digital media, and business reporting residencies hosted at university partners including Temple, UT Austin, University of Maryland, Arizona State, American University, and NYU; high school journalism workshops; the O'Toole Family Foundation Fellowship for nonprofit newsroom placements; and the Richard J. Levine Journalism Champion Award (established 2022) honoring diversity-and-press-advocacy work.

DJNF's revenue mechanics are foundation-grant based rather than commercial: hiring news organizations pay intern salaries (minimum $350/week), while DJNF funds the training residencies, returning-intern scholarships ($1,000), and awards ($2,500 for the Levine Award). Financials are not publicly disclosed. The organization reaches news-organization placement counterparties via direct enterprise partnerships, and prospective interns through its website (dowjonesnewsfund.org), email newsletters, social media, and industry conferences. Its primary served segments are college journalism students (primary), high school journalism students and teachers, news organizations that hire interns, and journalism educators; the organization does not charge tuition and operates without venture or private-equity capital.

The organization's competitive position rests on a 60+ year brand legacy, an alumni network of thousands of journalists placed at nearly every major American news organization, and a deeply embedded multi-university training ecosystem. Its 2026 cohort is 79 students placed at 59 newsrooms, down modestly from 81 students at 62 newsrooms in 2025, while applicant volume also contracted year-over-year (800+ vs. 1,000+). The Class of 2025 is 63% women and 65% students of color, indicating that DJNF's diversity-pipeline value proposition remains intact even as absolute scale has softened near the lower end of its historical 78-120 intern range.

Name

Dow Jones News Fund

Legal name

Dow Jones News Fund

Website

https://dowjonesnewsfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Dow Jones News Fund is a nonprofit journalism training foundation founded in 1960 and affiliated with Dow Jones/News Corp. It trains college students through paid summer internships and university residencies, placing roughly 79-120 interns annually at 59+ U.S. newsrooms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Journalism Education & Training

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC), Writing, Journalism & Publishing Camps (EDAMALAM)

Keywords

• Journalism training programs
• Paid newsroom internships
• Journalism fellowships
• Pre-internship residencies
• Nonprofit news education

Headquarters

HQ city

Princeton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Foundation Support: DJNF is a nonprofit foundation supported by the Dow Jones Foundation, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, and contributions from news organizations and individual donors.
2. O'Toole Family Foundation Grant: Funding from the O'Toole Family Foundation supports fellowship programs for student journalists to work in nonprofit newsrooms.
3. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant: Significant funding from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides support for aspiring journalists to report on health and wellness topics.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

A 501(c)-style nonprofit foundation founded in 1960 and headquartered in Princeton, NJ, that runs paid summer journalism internships, multiplatform pre-internship training residencies, and specialized fellowships placing student journalists at leading U.S. news organizations. The fund underwrites intern stipends of $350 per week and partners with premier journalism schools (Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism) and outlets (including WNYC) to deliver programs such as the Summer Internship Program, Business Reporting Program, Ed Bradley Journalism Fellowship, O'Toole Family Foundation Fellowship, High School Journalism Workshops, and Newmark Reporting Workshops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Richard J. Levine Journalism Champion Award: Annual award established in 2022 to honor those whose work supports the perpetuation of a strong and diverse free press, named after the late News Fund president Richard Levine
• O'Toole Family Foundation Fellowship

Quantifiable outcome

• 79 college students selected from 800+ applicants placed at 59 newsrooms in 2026
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American City Business JournalscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership for the Business Reporting Program, where ACBJ and DJNF co-train 10 interns to report in 10 different ACBJ markets. DJNF board member Garry D. Howard directs the program.
• Temple UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome of the Center for Editing Excellence, directed by Dr. Edward Trayes since 1968. DJNF editing interns receive 2-week pre-internship training at Temple.
• University of Texas at AustincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiplatform Editing Program training site, led by DJNF alumna Emily Quigley. Twelve interns train annually at this residency.
• University of Maryland, College ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerData Journalism Program site in partnership with Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). Sixteen interns trained annually at Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
• Arizona State University (Cronkite School)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital Media Program training site at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Eleven interns trained annually at ASU.
• American UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBusiness reporter training site focusing on intersection of business and government regulations. Ten interns trained annually under Paul Albergo.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with University of Maryland for data journalism training. IRE's David Herzog leads data journalism instruction for DJNF interns.
• Mayborn School of Journalism (University of North Texas)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Dorothy M. Bland serves as journalism professor at Mayborn School. She founded the school's Multimedia High School Journalism Workshop.
• NYU (Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban Journalism Workshop for high school students and business reporting program training site for DJNF interns.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA): Journalism association providing scholarships, training, and career development for Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists. Directly comparable as a peer in journalism career pipeline development, particularly on diversity, and is an active partner venue for DJNF alumni.
• National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ): Journalism professional association that runs scholarship programs, training, and a national convention. Overlaps with DJNF on diversity-focused journalism talent development and is one of the conferences where DJNF alumni network actively participates.

Direct peers

• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): Nonprofit membership organization that trains investigative journalists and runs the IRE Conference, data journalism training, and NICAR. DJNF explicitly partners with IRE for data journalism training at the University of Maryland, making IRE a directly comparable training peer.
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): Long-standing journalism professional organization offering training, awards, and ethics programs. Comparable to DJNF as a national journalism professional-development institution serving the same student and early-career population.
• Scripps Howard Foundation: Foundation affiliated with Scripps that runs the Scripps Howard Award and internships/fellowships for journalism students. Directly comparable to DJNF as a media-company-affiliated foundation supporting journalism scholarships, internships, and training.
• Report for America: National service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Comparable to DJNF as a journalism workforce-pipeline nonprofit that recruits, trains, and places emerging journalists into paid newsroom roles with employer partnerships.
• Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA): Association for broadcast and digital journalists offering training, awards, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards. Comparable as a journalism training and recognition organization serving overlapping career-development audiences.
• Poynter Institute: Nonprofit journalism training organization operating the Poynter News University and offering professional development, fellowships, and seminars for journalists. Directly comparable to DJNF as a nonprofit journalism education and training provider serving aspiring and working journalists.

Broad incumbents

• Knight Foundation: Major national foundation focused on journalism, media innovation, and the arts, with significant grantmaking to journalism training and newsroom programs. Comparable as a funder/peer institution investing in journalism workforce development at scale beyond DJNF's narrower training remit.
• News/Media Alliance: Trade association representing news publishers. Adjacent to DJNF's media-industry partner ecosystem; both organizations interact with the same newsroom employer base DJNF serves for intern placement.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dow Jones News Fund