Medill senior Carolyn Beeler has been selected as a National Public Radio Kroc Fellow for 2009-2010. As part of the year-long program, Beeler will work through three rotations at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. and a three-month stint at one of NPR’s member stations in the United States.

Beeler was one of three people selected for the fellowship, which begins in August 2009 and includes a stipend and benefits. Undergraduate and graduate students who will soon complete their degrees and students out of college for one year or less were eligible to apply and did not need journalism or radio experience.

Although Beeler’s concentration is magazine journalism and her internships have been in the magazine industry, she said she became interested in the Kroc fellowship after hearing about it during an internship last summer.

“I realized that public radio is one of the few mediums still doing the kind of journalism I’m interested in – telling real stories, getting past the news bites,” Beeler said.

Beeler said Northwestern’s Office of Fellowships was “really helpful” throughout her application process, though they had never heard of the program before she mentioned her interest. To her knowledge, she is the only NU student to have won the award, she said.

According to the NPR Web site, NPR will also provide Kroc fellows with job placement assistance after the program ends.

“This will make me a much more well-rounded journalist, no matter what I decide to pursue after the year is up,” Beeler said.

– STAFF REPORTS