Deadline: November 16, 2023
Applications are open for the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Reporting Fellowships 2024. To mark its 20th anniversary in 2024, EJN is pleased to announce the launch of a new year-long fellowship program for journalists which will enhance reporting over four priority areas — climate change, biodiversity, the ocean and One Health.
EJN is seeking four exceptional environmental reporters for a new fellowship initiative which will provide journalistic training and mentorship, a quarterly salary stipend and funding for story production, travel and professional development opportunities. Each of these four Fellows will primarily focus on a different area of environmental journalism — climate change, biodiversity, the ocean and One Health — and will develop their skills and networks to become leaders in these reporting spaces. EJN Reporting Fellows will also have the opportunity to broaden their understanding and produce stories in the other three thematic areas. One fellowship will be awarded for each thematic area of reporting, and interested journalists must indicate which fellowship they wish to apply for.
Benefits
EJN Fellows that are awarded this first-of-its-kind opportunity will:
- Attend an orientation workshop hosted by EJN to strengthen their reporting skills and meet the other participating Fellows;
- Receive mentorship from senior journalists with expertise in each thematic area to provide 1-1 guidance, reporters’ resources and editorial support for their reporting;
- Build thematic expertise by learning from and interviewing experts in all four focus areas;
- Hone reporting skills through training on data journalism, Mojo, solutions journalism, fact checking, data visualization and more;
- Receive a quarterly stipend of 6,000 EUR to cover expenses for story production and the Fellows’ time;
- Receive 6,000 EUR per Fellow to cover travel to conferences, travel for story production, professional development opportunities and more;
- Engage in peer-to-peer learning and exchange.
Eligibility
Open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, multimedia, new media). They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations — international, national and local.
Eligible applicants for the EJN Reporting Fellowship must:
- Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from a low- or middle-income country.
- Have a minimum of 5 years of journalistic experience.
- Have demonstrable interest and experience reporting on one of the four thematic areas, and provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples on those topics, which can be uploaded as documents or web links.
- Be able to participate fully in an English-language fellowship. For the purposes of this opportunity, they will only be accepting applications in English.
- Commit to participating in all fellowship activities, with the full support of their media house.
- Commit to being part of an online community with current and future Fellows.
- Have strong and stable internet access for the purposes of virtual activities (minimum 1.2Mbps).
- Provide a signed letter of support from an editor, producer, or supervisor who can confirm that you will be allocated time to participate in all fellowship activities (equivalent of 2 days per week for the duration of the fellowship), and that reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet.Freelancers are welcome to apply but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report. The template for this letter of support is provided for freelancers here and staffers here.
- Provide 2 signed professional references (letters of recommendation) from supervisors or professional associates who are familiar with your journalistic abilities, qualifications, training and interests.
Judging Criteria
They are looking for applicants who meet the following criteria:
- Demonstrated experience covering climate change, biodiversity, the ocean and/or One Health topics;
- Long-term commitment to the field of journalism and in continuing to report on these topics;
- A relationship with an established media house and a signed letter of support from an editor/producer/supervisor agreeing to publish or broadcast any work produced during the fellowship.
- EJN also considers the need to assemble a diverse cohort of journalists from different types of media houses, media and geographies.
Application
For more information, visit EJN Reporting Fellowships.
