Details on BruinsNation 2011-12 Scholarship/Fellowship Program

So let's follow up on the special announcement we made on our six year anniversary post. As mentioned in that post, this summer we are hoping to select two current UCLA students or recent alumni to join us on the front page of Bruins Nation for the 2011-12 academic year - through the summer of 2012.

The two people selected will be expected to contribute strongly to Bruins Nation throughout the year,with each selectee to be awarded a scholarship of $4,000. Before we get to what we are looking from folks who are interested in participating in this program and how to get started, want to share couple of macro notes on why this is important for UCLA athletics and how it could benefit at a personal level.

First, as to why this is important for UCLA. If you a regular reader of BruinsNation, you will have a pretty good idea of the dismal state of traditional sports media especially in Southern California. We have built an extensive archive demonstrating how the Los Angeles Times known around here as "the Trojan Times" has been nothing short of a mouthpiece for Southern Cal Trojans. Over the years it not only looked the other way while Pete Carroll was cheating his way to building a Trojan dynasty, it did it by completely ignoring UCLA athletics. Simply put UCLA athletics does not have a lot of allies in media world except for Bruin Report Online, Bruin Blitz and yes this place - even when we are critical of their efforts.

There is a huge need for more Bruins engaging in the world of sports media. The traditional route is to get involved through the Daily Bruin and then perhaps slaving through traditional media outlets such as blogging on ESPN or the Daily News. But we think those routes while helpful can also be constricting because writing on those beats also mean being worried with "access." If you blog on BruinsNation, you will have no such worries. Yet at the same time you will have the cachet of blogging on the frontpage of a Bruin dedicated web platform which has now been favorably recognized by the New York Times, CNNSI.com, CBS, ESPN and even the LA Times. Just in recent weeks, we saw this community being either prominently featured or referenced in national outlets such as the New York Times, NBC Sports and ESPN.  No matter how much some detractors want to say negative things about BN, the overall body of work for last 6 years speaks for itself. So if you engage through BN, you will get to establish yourself as key sports opinion shaper on all things UCLA athletics, and grow a much needed stable of Bruin sports personalities in today's media world.

This actually works right into our second point. If you are interested in a career dedicated to sports journalism with UCLA angle, we don't think there is a better place to get started and grow your web profile. We described the cachet of the place above and as mentioned our body of work speaks for itself. So on that note let's get what we are looking for in candidates.

A scholarship will be given to current UCLA student and a fellowship will be awarded to recent UCLA alum, who graduated on or after 2008.

• Someone who has been an active member of BruinsNation. By active we mean someone who has not only partaken in comment thread discussion but also enriched this community through contributions in the fanpost and fanshot section, adding new dimensions to the ongoing narrative in this community.
• Someone who understands the meta narrative of BruinsNation which includes but is not limited to holding all of our programs accountable according to standards set by 107 NCAA championships.
• We are looking for a candidate, who is well tuned to all Bruin related news developments in all traditional and new media outlets. This means someone who if needed will be able to jump on breaking news developments emanating from both traditional and new media outlets.
• Interest should be indicated by sending a formal email with copies of your resume and UCLA transcript to BruinsNation at gmail dot com. In the email please make sure to provide at least two references from current UCLA professor (with verifiable official UCLA contact information)..
• Please indicate your interest by emailing us by July 22, 2011 with the subject header "BruinsNation: 2011-12 Scholarship Application." If you are an alum use "Fellowship."
• The frontpagers will be screening the applications. If we are interested we will be following up with emails and will set up follow-up interviews as needed either in person or via phone.

What we are looking from the candidate who will be awarded the scholarship/fellowship:

• A one year commitment to BruinsNation that will entail publishing at least 3 front page caliber posts every week.
• What the frontpage posts would be about could depend on the candidates' interest. We would love to have candidates who are interested in all UCLA athletics related matters and can zero in on big storylines as they develop. At the same time a. candidate could specifically pick a sport, and develop his or her portfolio like Ryan Rosenblatt has done over the years.
• Note while we view a 3 frontpage posts quota as a ceiling, we will look favorably upon candidate, who will indicate interest with an established track record on BN that he or she would go above and beyond by adding conversations in all corners of BN (fanposts, fanshots etc).

As mentioned above, if you are interested please submit your email by July 22. We are hoping that we will have enough applicants that we can go through our evaluations and reach a decision by August 22, 2011.

We indicated that we are looking to award the fellowship to recent UCLA alum. However, if someone expresses interest who does not fall into that criteria but thinks he or she could become viable candidate based on contributions to this community, then please write to us anyway. We will take into account your web trail, based on your SBN profile and contributions to BN.

If you do not fit the criteria outlined above but are really interested in participating in this program, we urge you to join the community today and engaged in a productive manner comporting with all the official rules. We can always revisit your interest when this year is over and make determinations based on your contributions to BN for future considerations.

Meanwhile, if you have additional questions, please fire them up in the comment thread. Looking forward to hearing from what we will hope latest generation of Bruin thought makers in the world of UCLA sports.

GO BRUINS.