The International Reporting Project (IRP) is pleased to announce a Gatekeeper Editors Trip to Kenya May 31- June 12, 2009, for senior U.S. editors and producers interested in learning more about this key African country.
Gatekeepers are any senior journalists – publishers, executive editors, managing editors, broadcast producers, online editors, editorial page editors, business editors, op-ed page editors and others – who determine editorial content at any type of media organization. To be eligible for this trip, all Gatekeepers must have at least seven years of editorial experience and must supervise staff at a fulltime job at their organization. Gatekeepers must be U.S. citizens or else working as staff editors in the U.S. for a U.S.-based news organization.
This trip to Kenya will be an intensive, working trip designed to familiarize senior journalists with critical issues such as health, environment, education and economic development. At a time of major budget cutbacks in U.S. newsrooms, this is an opportunity to take advantage of this IRP fellowship for senior editors to learn first-hand and report about key global issues through meetings and interviews with leading Kenyan officials and a wide range of Kenyans in urban and rural areas.
The International Reporting Project (IRP) will select up to 12 U.S. gatekeepers for this trip to Kenya. Editors in chief or publishers are invited to nominate themselves or another gatekeeper from their news organization’s senior staff. The trip will follow the models of previous IRP Gatekeeper trips to Turkey, Uganda, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt, India, Lebanon/Syria, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Editors interested in applying for the 2009 Gatekeepers’ Fact-Finding Trip to Kenya are required to fill out an application form for the fellowship. Application forms must also be accompanied by a professional resume of no more than two pages. Applicants must have a passport that is valid for travel at the time of their application.
All selected Gatekeepers will be required to gather in Washington DC on Sunday morning, May 31, for a pre-flight briefing on Kenya. The Gatekeepers’ flight will depart that afternoon and connect in Europe for a flight arriving in Nairobi on Monday June 1. Gatekeepers will depart Kenya on June 11 and arrive in the U.S. on Friday, June 12.
Gatekeepers are responsible for paying their own way between their home cities and Washington, DC. The International Reporting Project will cover all of the costs of participants’ travel and accommodations in Kenya, as well as working meals that are part of the program schedule. (Gatekeepers’ organizations may choose to reimburse the IRP for these expenses if they so wish.)
IRP funding comes entirely from support by private, non-partisan foundations and from individuals. The IRP does not accept government funding of any kind. The IRP is an independent program run by journalists for journalists, and is based at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.
All applications must be postmarked by April 1. Applicants will be informed of the selection results in mid-April.