Deadline: October 1, 2017
Call for applications for the fifth season of Cross-Border Journalism Programme is now open. Cross-Border Journalism Programme is an opportunity for journalists and bloggers in the early and mid stages of their career looking for the chance to develop their skills in international reporting and enhance their professional network abroad.
The new digital era of media, and the globalisation of economic and political processes have brought new challenges to journalism. In particular, they have highlighted the need to develop international professional networks in order to understand regional characteristics and better cover transnational stories.
To reflect the needs of journalists Perspektivy is opening a scheme that aims to connect journalists in ‘cross-border’ collaboration. Journalists and bloggers from Russia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Baltics or the Caucasus will have the opportunity to work together to produce stories through partnership and collaboration that transcend their national border. Participants will be offered distance mentoring and seminars to help them to produce insightful stories.
Working in teams, participants can produce joint or individual work. These stories can be on any topic, as long as they draw on examples from outside of their home country. For example, refugee and migrant crises, climate changes, food production and its export/import, media, or civil society. Other ideas are welcome.
Programme Activities
This programme will involve the following activities:
- A two days workshop in Kishinev, where teams can meet up with Perspektivy mentors to discuss ideas, work on story angles and plan a road-map forward.
- A mentoring phase, where the participants return to their home destinations and continue work remotely with experienced mentors and senior journalists as they work on producing their stories.
- Each team can choose most convenient time from the mentoring phase period to undertake short-term research trip to collect information for their cross-border story.
- A two days review session in Almaty where the teams meet again to finalise their pieces and discuss them with mentors and journalists on the scheme.
Although production of stories is the ultimate outcome, the responsibility for the publication or dissemination of them rests with the journalists and their professional editors. Perspektivy does not exercise editorial control.
Cost
- Successful candidates will receive professional mentoring, assistance for research trips arrangements and reimbursement of costs for those trips. Perspektivy does not practice paying honorariums;
- Travel costs, accommodation and per diem for both programme launch and closing 2-days seminars will also be covered by the programme.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be professional journalists, freelancers, bloggers at the early to mid point of their, career with a minimum of three years work experience. They must apply with a story idea that transcends a national border;
- Priority will be given to those team applications where participants of the team are from different countries and media outlets;
- This scheme is open to journalists, freelancers, bloggers producing stories in Russian for Russian-language media outlets and professionally based in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Baltic states, and the Caucasus;
- The working language of the programme is Russian. No translation at any point will be provided.
Application
- You are welcome to apply for the programme until October 1, 2017 by filling out the online application form. You will be asked to provide examples of your work and letter of editorial support. Please note that the size of any uploaded files must not exceed 5 MB;
- Results will be announced on October 10, 2017 at 19:00 Moscow time using the e-mails applicants provided in their application form.
For more information, visit Cross-Border Journalism Programme.
