(PresidentialHill.com)- Prominent Democratic megadonor George Soros is seeking to buy out journalists to push his criminal justice reform. Soros is offering to pay journalists $63,000 to $85,000 to join his media fellowships, or “Soros Justice Fellowships,” through his nonprofit, the Open Society Foundations (OSF), according to The Daily Wire.
Applicants are expected to push Soros’ goal of reducing incarceration rates and creating more lenient sentencing guidelines. The eligibility for the program extends beyond journalists. The OSF is offering three categories for funding: advocacy, media, and youth activism. Some positions may reportedly earn up to six figures.
Professions that these categories include may be lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, artists, and filmmakers.
The 25-year-old fellowship has trained a total of 469 individuals, many of whom went on to work for legacy media outlets.
Yasmine Arrington, a writer for Forbes Magazine, Washington Post, and Baltimore Times, is currently a fellow in the program. She is developing a new podcast called “Black and brown youth voices” that will center around criminal justice reform.
Irene Franco Rubio, who has written for Forbes, USA Today, Teen Vogue, and NPR, and worked on Michelle Obama’s nonprofit, is also developing a podcast around juvenile incarceration and criminalization in public schools.
Other current fellows went on to become journalist activists. Tiera Howleit, a student reporter at Indiana University, founded a social justice advocacy group in 2020 called “Black Collegians.” Katherine Owojori will work with Franco Rubio on her podcast and is also a member of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles.
A few past fellows include Cloee Cooper, working with prominent outlets like PBS, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Politico, and The John Oliver Show; Contessa Gayles, working with CNN, VICE, and PBS; Lam Thuy Vo, working with WSJ, Al Jazeera, and The New York Times; and Shanita Hubbard, working with NYT and Huffington Post.
