New Journalism Mentorship Announces Its First Cohort, Offering Career Pathways for Journalists

MEDIA RELEASE

MELBOURNE (19 January 2026) — ArtsHub, Australia’s longest-running digital independent arts media publisher and part of the Creative Hubs Group, announces the first cohort of its Creative Journalism Fellowship, a new national initiative designed to nurture emerging journalists across the arts, screen, games and cultural sectors. The program responds to a critical gap in Australia’s media ecosystem: the need for sustainable, independent arts and culture journalism, and stronger career pathways for new writers and commentators.

The application process was competitive with 75 applicants vying for the ten available spots to participate in the program and receive paid journalism opportunities, mentoring, newsroom experience, industry exposure and publication pathways across its platforms, which collectively reach more than 600,000 monthly users. This first cohort is NSW-based with emerging journalists from diverse creative and cultural backgrounds, representing voices from across Australia’s cultural landscape. Equally represented across genders and cultural backgrounds, as well as from metro through to regional areas, the intent beyond this pilot is to take the program national, with help from commercial and philanthropic partners.

The inaugural cohort has been proudly supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW as part of the “Stories Matter: A Writing and Literature Strategy for NSW” announced in October 2025. 

Minister for the Arts John Graham said:

“A strong arts scene is strengthened further by the critical and enquiring eye of arts journalism. As our program says, ‘stories matter’. Congratulations to the ten emerging arts journalists joining the fellowship initiative where they will be mentored by some of the best in the sector.” 

ArtsHub congratulates the inaugural cohort of the Creative Fellowship Program: Daniel Stojkovski, Manan Luthra, Bridget Ross, Solomiya Sywak, William Winter, Georgia Finucane, Thomas Sargeant, Carielyn Tunion, Kyle Walmsley, Malavika Nair.

Declines in Arts Journalism Risks Creative Visibility and Critical Discourse

2.5% of Australia’s GDP ($63.7B) was driven by cultural & creative activity - up 62% over the past 15 years*. The Arts & Entertainment sector is large and growing, yet the crisis in the news industry is affecting journalism as a profession, with fewer opportunities for full-time employment and a clear career path. According to census data, the number of journalists in Australia fell by 19% between 2011 and 2021**. Arts journalism plays a vital role in documenting creative work, creating awareness of exhibitions, festivals and performances and enables important public debate and discourse as well as informed criticism that pushes artistic innovation. With fewer journalists covering arts and culture, Australia’s creative industry and vibrant cultural impact becomes silent and invisible.

Capacity Building for Arts Journalism

The Creative Journalism Fellowship aims to build capacity within Australia’s arts and cultural media ecosystem and to create sustainable career pathways for emerging writers, at a time when traditional journalism employment has plummeted by ~47% in only a decade***

Alongside paid opportunities, mentoring and real-life journalism experience, the Fellowship provides emerging creative journalists with experience in digital journalism and podcasting. Arts and culture audience behaviour has changed, with a growing engaged audience willing to consume long-form audio and video reporting, interviews and commentary. As audiences increasingly shift to digital consumption, online and digital-native journalism - including arts and culture coverage - significant potential exists to reach broader audiences. The Fellowship directly addresses this opportunity, by building skills and capacity across digital journalism and creative reporting. 

Chief Commercial Officer of Creative Hubs Group, Mimi Curran, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to launch the first Creative Journalism Fellowship and welcome our inaugural cohort. This program invests directly in talent, elevates diverse creative voices and strengthens the future of arts, screen, games and cultural journalism in Australia through digital-first storytelling. At a time when media consolidation continues to reduce opportunities for new writers, ArtsHub is stepping forward with a model that is both industry-led and deeply community-minded. We’re actively seeking other commercial partners to help us expand the program nationally this year.”

For more information on the Creative Journalism Fellowship, visit: https://www.artshub.com.au/creative-journalism-fellowship-nsw

About Creative Hubs Group

ArtsHub has a 25-year alignment to the arts and entertainment industries and is part of Creative Hubs Group that includes ArtsHub, ArtsHub UK, and ScreenHub. Creative Hubs Group offers advertisers reach across the whole group through a single point of contact. Its audiences love the arts, events, culture, entertainment, and video games and particularly its audience of creative professionals represent the largest audience nationally attending arts and cultural events, festivals and performances. They are educated, prosperous, engaged, and aged from 18 to 54.

Learn more: https://www.creativehubsgroup.com/

* Bureau of Communications, Arts and the Digital Economy Report, Cultural and Creative Satellite Accounts

**Australian Journalism Review, June 2024

***Quality Journalism Demands Quality Jobs Submission Of The Media, Entertainment And Arts Alliance To The News Map Consultation February 2024 - https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nmap-media-entertainment-and-arts-alliance-meaa.pdf