Deadline: April 29, 2018
Applications are open for ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellowship for media innovators with an interest in storytelling + fact-checking methods. With the support of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is expanding its TruthBuzz initiative, designed to find new ways to help verified facts reach the widest possible audience.
The goal of TruthBuzz: increase audience trust in news media by communicating fact-checked information in a compelling, sharable way. TruthBuzz Fellows will be change-makers who can drive the adoption of new ways of making facts go as viral. ICFJ will collaborate with First Draft, a project of the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Are you a media expert with a track record of success leading innovative projects in newsrooms? Do you have sharp audience-engagement skills? Interested in deploying your multimedia savvy to combat misinformation in your country? If so, consider applying for a full-time, six-month TruthBuzz Fellowship.
About
In 2018, TruthBuzz will recruit five full-time Fellows to work in newsrooms in some of the most populous nations: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. Modeled on ICFJ’s Knight Fellowship program, TruthBuzz will embed experts in these outlets to help reporters adopt compelling storytelling methods that improve the reach and impact of fact-checking and help “inoculate” audiences against false or misleading information.
ICFJ will gather the selected TruthBuzz Fellows at ICFJ’s office in Washington, D.C., for an orientation. First Draft News and ICFJ will provide additional training to the fellows and the partner newsrooms in-country. The training will cover both the principles and techniques of fact-checking and verification as well as training on visual storytelling.
Fellows will be embedded with two to three partner media organizations in each of the countries to: spur the production of compelling stories that fact-check and debunk misinformation. Fellows will be expected to share and communicate their innovations through ICFJ’s social media channel and our online platform, IJNet, which offers resources, tips and expert advice for journalists in seven languages.
Benefits
- All Fellows will receive a monthly honorarium as well as a professional allowance to supplement their work with partner newsrooms.
- Over the course of the Fellowship, there may be opportunities for TruthBuzz Fellows to travel to conferences to share their work with wider professional audiences.
Eligibility
- The TruthBuzz Fellowship is only open to English-speaking media professionals already working in one of the target countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. The Fellowship will start in summer 2018, between June-August.
- TruthBuzz Fellows must have the experience and skills necessary to envision and execute successful projects.
Below is a list of preferred qualifications. They recognize that not every Fellow will have every skill.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working in newsrooms
- Experience with multimedia and alternative forms of storytelling
- Sharp audience-engagement and communications skills
- Entrepreneurial mind-set and demonstrated background in getting projects off the ground
- Experience collaborating with different teams across newsrooms including designers and programmers.
- Experience incorporating the use of social media in news media
- Strong leadership skills
- Ability to communicate program results as a speaker, writer
- Strong project- and time-management skills
- Success at replicating, adapting and creating technologies to answer local needs
- Lives and works in one of the target countries
- Training or coaching experience
- Professional proficiency (speaking, reading and writing) in English
- Fluency (speaking, reading and writing) in the local language of the target country/region
- Experience measuring results, such as the impact of content, adoption of technology and audience engagement
- Experience in fact-checking and tackling misinformation
Application
If you want to make facts go viral, apply to be a TruthBuzz Fellow. To be considered, potential Fellows must submit an application including a project proposal with a timeline, an essay outlining their skills and a short video.
Please click here to read the full application.
For more information, visit ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellowship.
