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Call for Applications: Mekong Data Journalism Fellowship 2021, Round Two
27 June, 2021
The East-West Center and Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, in partnership with the Stimson Center, are pleased to launch a second and final round of fellowships to journalists from Mekong countries. The fellowship provides fellows with the opportunity to develop data journalism skills and support data-driven investigations into water security challenges and solutions in the Mekong region.
Please read the following sections carefully, as they contain important information on eligibility and the application process.
Overview
Launched in early 2021, the Mekong Data Journalism Fellowship is an eight-month program providing journalists skills they need to turn data into powerful news stories that reflect the threats and potential solutions facing the Mekong River and 70 million people it supports.
Two rounds of the fellowships are offered to journalists based in the Mekong River Basin, which covers Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Round Two fellows will be selected from journalists who apply to this call for applications. Learn more about Round One Fellows here. If you applied last time and were not selected, we strongly encourage you to try again this time. For Round Two, 20 journalists will be selected to explore water security issues along the Mekong River Basin.
Over the course of four months, Fellows will learn how to find, scrape, clean and interview data as well as transform their findings into powerful human interest stories. These stories will raise awareness of water security challenges, such as hydropower plant development, and potential solutions in the Mekong region.
Selected Fellows will join a series of virtual seminars with experts in fields such as water management and geopolitics, attend a part-time 40-hour face to face virtual data journalism training three days a week, complete 40-hours of video tutorials and assignment, and receive one-on-one mentorship support to produce a data-driven media story. Fellows will pitch stories based on topics aligned with the theme of this Fellowship. Exact dates and times of the trainings and seminars will be set later according to participating journalists’ schedules.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be nationals of one of the following countries: Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand or Vietnam.
- As the data journalism training courses will be conducted in English (with Burmese language support) or Khmer, applicants can select which language option training they want to join in the application form. They must be proficient in the language taught in the course and have some basic English skill to understand some English-language training materials that will be provided during the course. We will only be accepting applications in English, Burmese or Khmer language.
- We are seeking journalists (online, print, television, radio, multimedia) and other expert media practitioners with 2-3 years of journalism experience, preferably including reporting on environmental issues in the Mekong region and with an interest in applying data journalism in their work. We do not require applicants to have prior data journalism experience.
- We encourage applications from freelancers and staff of all types of media organizations – international, national, local and community-based. Freelance journalists will need to guarantee publication/broadcast and should identify the media outlet(s) through which they plan to distribute their stories.
What you will get in return
- US$3000 per fellow to compensate for your time and cover story production and any costs related to the training or reporting. Fellows will receive the grant in instalments and will need to manage spending themselves.
- Virtual, interactive seminars with global and regional experts on water security issues and river management and their impact on the environment and local communities.
- Free 40-hour live data journalism training and up to 40 hours of video tutorials and self-study materials. Each class will proceed from the one before so selected Fellows will need to commit to join each one. Fellows will be required to spend time outside the training hours to complete assignments and self-study.
- One-on-one mentorship from a senior journalist throughout the story production process.
- Opportunity to network with regional journalists and experts and build up the source list
For the application process and other details, please visit: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/mekong-data-journalism-fellowship-2021-round-two
Fellowship period: August to November 2021
Source: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/mekong-data-journalism-fellowship-2021-round-two
