Application Deadline: March 25th, 2024
The Fellowship emphasizes strong storytelling and rigorous, on-the-ground reporting – qualities traditionally associated with the best magazine journalism. But unlike the legacy outlets that dominate the global market in long-form journalism, we work exclusively with reporters who belong to the societies they are examining.
Requirements
- Journalists from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia with demonstrable professional experience are eligible to apply.
- Applicants should have citizenship or permanent residence of one of the countries covered by the programme.
- Fellows must be able to dedicate adequate time to the Fellowship, in terms of research, reporting trips, attending seminars, writing and revising drafts and participating in editorial sessions.
Benefits
- The chance to improve your reporting skills by working in close collaboration with world-class editors
- Ongoing mentoring and support from BIRN’s leading regional journalistic network, present in 14 countries of the Central and SEE region
- Fellowship bursary of €3,000
- An introductory seminar focused on reporting and storytelling techniques
- Regular intensive editing sessions with the programme editor
- Final event and the award ceremony
- Worldwide publication of reports in local languages and English
- Membership of Fellowship alumni network, designed to support continued cooperation and networking between fellows who have participated in the programme since 2007
- The Fellowship is itself an award, given to 10 journalists every year. In addition to this, awards are given to the three best stories at the end of the programme. The author of the top prize-winning story shall receive €3,000, the second €2,000 and the third €1,000. Winning articles will be selected by members of the Selection Committee, based on transparent evaluation criteria. Selection Committee members will judge the original, unedited, versions of articles submitted by the Fellows.
More Info: Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence