Apply for IRP China Trip: March 1 deadline
May 8-22, 2010
The International Reporting Project (IRP) is pleased to announce a two-week Gatekeeper Editors Trip to China May 8-22, 2010, for senior U.S. editors and producers interested in learning more about this important country.
Deadline for submitting an application form for this trip is March 1, 2010.
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. 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 China will focus on issues such as health, environment, education and economic development, with an emphasis on China’s attempts to develop its hinterland and rural regions. The trip will include stops in Beijing, Kunming and Chengdu. Gatekeepers will meet with a wide cross-section of Chinese citizens in an attempt to better understand how China is attempting to cope with social, medical and economic challenges facing its population of 1.3 billion.
The International Reporting Project (IRP) will take up to 12 U.S. gatekeepers on this trip to China. 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 Peru, Kenya, Turkey, Uganda, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt, India, Lebanon/Syria, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia. (Click here for more information on the content of those programs.)
All selected Gatekeepers will be asked to gather in Washington D.C. on Friday evening, May 7, for a dinner briefing with an expert speaker on China. On Saturday, May 8, there will be an early breakfast orientation meeting, followed by departure to Beijing that morning. Editors will return to Washington D.C. on Saturday, May 22.
Gatekeepers are responsible for paying their own way between their home cities and Washington, DC. The International Reporting Project will provide hotel accommodations in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 7, and will cover costs for the dinner and breakfast briefings in Washington. The IRP will cover all of the costs of the participants’ travel and accommodations in China, as well as 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.
Editors interested in applying for the 2010 Gatekeepers’ Fact-Finding Trip to China 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. Application forms are available online at or by contacting the IRP communications coordinator, William Colbert at 202-663-7726 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Completed applications should be sent by email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or by fax to 202-663-7762, or by postal mail to the International Reporting Project, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC. 20036.
All applications must be postmarked by Monday, March 1. Applicants will be informed of the selection results in mid-March.
