Comcast NBCUniversal Partners With Nonprofits To Launch Fellowship For Black, LGBTQIA+ Issues

Comcast NBCUniversal has announced a new fellowship dedicated to amplifying the concerns and voices of Black and LGBTQ+ communities.

Comcast NBCUniversal is lending its support to launch a fellowship designated for Black and LGBTQ+ issues. The media company will partner with collaboratives to develop The Digital Equity Local Voices Lab.

The initiative will collaborate with News is Out, a cohort of queer publications, and Word In Black, a group of Black publishers, to launch the fellowship. According to The Washington Informer on Feb. 6, Comcast is working through Project Up to help bring equitable coverage and resources in the media sphere, dedicating $1 billion to the cause, which will also aid budding diverse journalists.

For the “first of its kind” lab, 16 fellows will be trained across the 16 publications, amplifying the work and the voices of those belonging to the LGBTQ+ and Black communities. Through the program, conducted over a year, these fellows will learn under the guidance and mentorship of those from News is Out and Word In Black. They will also have the content highlighted through NBCUniversal and its platform, NBCU Academy.

“Word In Black is looking forward to working with our colleagues at News is Out and Comcast NBCUniversal on this groundbreaking fellowship program,” expressed Chris Bennett, publisher of the Seattle Medium, one of the publications involved with Word In Black. “Uplifting the voices of journalists and publishers who are dedicated to covering Black and LGBTQ+ stories is vital to the future of inclusive media.”

This fellowship will ensure the content that matters to these underrepresented communities will be prioritized and upheld by the writers who are a part of them. The Local Media Foundation lab will facilitate the program across these impactful publications. The participating members will help sharpen the multimedia skills of these burgeoning professionals.

“As a Black queer woman, I know the impact of empowering and elevating Black and LGBTQ+ voices,” said Eboné F. Bell, publisher of Tagg Magazine. “This project gives us an opportunity to instill a great amount of knowledge and experience in fellows who can help amplify the voice of these communities in the media industry.”

Applications are open now for all who are eligible to be part of this groundbreaking venture.