Khushboo Ranka
Award-winning filmmaker and producer
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2026, Spring 2026
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellows
The fellowship program advances research and innovation at the intersection of documentary, nonfiction media, and a rapidly evolving information environment. It brings together filmmakers, journalists, scholars, creators, and industry leaders in an interdisciplinary intellectual community that supports their individual research while fostering shared inquiry across fields.
The initiative’s current research agenda focuses on two interconnected areas: the future of public media and civic infrastructure, and the evolving role of documentary within online media ecosystems.
Visit the Shorenstein Center Fellowships page to learn more and apply. Indicate within your fellowship application text that you are interested in focusing your fellowship on documentary and visual storytelling. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until May 1, 2027 for the next cohort, which will begin in September 2027.
Current Fellows
Elizabeth Radshaw
Award-winning producer and cultural strategist
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2026, Spring 2026
David Craig
Associate Professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Shorenstein Fellowship
Fall 2026
Past Fellows
Patricia Aufderheide
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2025
Sarafina DiFelice
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Spring 2025
Shirley Abraham
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Spring 2025
Felipe Estefan
Shorenstein Fellowship
Spring 2026, Fall 2025, Spring 2025
Abby Sun
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2024
Bernardo Ruiz
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2024
Keri Putnam
Walter Shorenstein Media & Democracy Fellow
Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Tabitha Jackson
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Spring 2024
Amy Hobby
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Spring 2024
Mary Lampson
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2023
Natalie Bullock Brown
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2023
Jacqueline Olive
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2023
Kirsten Johnson
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Fall 2023
Jax Deluca
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship
Spring 2026, Fall 2025, Spring 2025
Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative
Learn more about the DFPI initiative’s research, convenings, and other programming.