Ever wanted to get some additional training to advance your journalism career but the cost of attending has kept you at home? We can help.

The Midwest Broadcast Journalists Foundation was established in 2003 as the 501 (c) 3 charitable arm of the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.  The Foundation’s goal is to provide scholarships to promising journalism students, and grants to working professional journalists to advance their training in the field. We offer $500 training grants to working professional journalists in our six-state service area. You can use the grant to attend a course or a conference, to help pay for your tuition or travel expenses to get there. All we ask is that you pass along what you learn to your own newsroom when you get back, and write us a short letter telling us what you learned.

Past recipients have been awarded grants to attend courses at the Poynter Institute, the National Press Photographers Association’s training sessions, the Society of Professional Journalists/Radio Television Digital News Association national convention and more.

Where does the money come from? Each year, the Foundation hosts a silent auction during the Midwest Journalism Conference. The highest bidder receives valuable items such as autographed books, branded clothing and gear from major news organizations, broadcasting memorabilia, free hotel nights, sporting event tickets, free registrations to regional and national journalism conferences and more. We also accept donations from individuals and businesses at any time.

If you wish to support the training and development of today’s working journalists, please contact us to find out how you can help.

If you are a working journalist hoping to further your development, you are welcome to apply for a grant. Applications are accepted year-round on a rolling basis and are reviewed each spring prior to our annual convention.  You may apply by filling out the training grant application and sending it to the Foundation for review.  We will notify you if you are awarded a grant and will ask you to submit a brief report within one year about what you learned and how it has affected your work.