At this time of year, for many years running, I have spoken of a “juicy opportunity.” An opportunity (juicy) for aspiring journalists of a conservative disposition. I am talking about the William F. Buckley Jr. Fellowship in Political Journalism, sponsored by our National Review Institute.

The deal is this: You work at National Review for a year, full-time. You start in May or June (as is convenient to you). There is a chance to add a second year (but no more). The fellowship is open to recent college graduates. There are two positions. (Currently, our fellows are Kayla Bartsch and Haley Strack.)

Note that this fellowship is journalistic in nature. It is not for political activism, honorable as such activism can be. There are jobs aplenty in politics. Our applicants should be inclined to writing, analyzing, reporting. They should be curious about the big broad world.

In his passport, under “Occupation,” WFB had “Journalist.” He liked that tag, attached to himself. (He subtitled one of his collections, in the 1990s, “Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist.”) I further think of James Burnham, WFB’s great friend and our esteemed senior editor. “We want simply to have the best magazine in the world,” Burnham once wrote, “assuming a general (not too sharply defined) conservative and anti-Communist point of view.”

Above, I spoke of “writing, analyzing, reporting.” I would like to add “reading.” I was struck by something that George F. Will said, in a podcast with me last October. (Will is an NR alumnus.)

If someone said, “What do you do, Mr. Will?,” I’d say, “I’m a writer,” but actually I’m a reader. I have to read four or five hours a day — journalism, books, etc. — to get the material.

Interesting. Anyway, back to brass tacks. To apply for the Buckley fellowship, send us a package containing five items: a cover letter; a résumé; a recommendation from an employer or professor; a current transcript; and a writing sample. I will quote from the relevant NRI webpage:

The cover letter should explain the applicant’s education, work, other activities, and future goals as they relate to National Review. In other words, “why you and why National Review?” Applications go to info@nrinstitute.org.

Sound good? It does to me. A juicy opportunity. Give it a whirl, if you want to. I often quote an expression from golf: “Never up, never in.” Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Do you get the fellowship? Great. Do you not? You’ll get something else. If you want it, go for it.

Thanks.