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Apply for IRP Gatekeeper Editor Trip to Rwanda by September 7

The International Reporting Project (IRP) is pleased to announce a 13-day Gatekeeper Editors Trip to Rwanda on November 6-19, 2011, for senior U.S. editors and producers interested in learning more about this important country in Africa.

Applications forms for this trip must be received by the IRP by September 7, 2011.

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 employed as staff editors in the U.S. for a U.S.-based news organization.

This trip to Rwanda will focus on issues such as health, food security, the environment, education, economic development, post-conflict reconciliation and Rwanda’s role in the region. The most densely populated country in sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda is still recovering from the 1994 genocide that left nearly a million Tutsis and some moderate Hutus dead, and millions more displaced. With an estimated 11 million residents in a country the size of Maryland, Rwanda is seeking to rebuild its institutions while coping with serious health and economic challenges. Some site visits may include travel to remote wilderness areas and editors should be prepared to do some moderate hiking.

The International Reporting Project (IRP) will take up to 12 U.S. gatekeepers on this trip to Rwanda. 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 Indonesia (in 2000 and again in 2011), Liberia, China, Peru, Kenya, Turkey, Uganda, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt, India, Lebanon/Syria, South Africa and Brazil.

All selected Gatekeepers will be asked to gather in Washington D.C. on Sunday afternoon, November 6, for a briefing with an expert speaker. Editors will depart that evening. Editors will return to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, November 19.

Gatekeepers are responsible for paying their own way between their home cities and Washington, DC. The IRP will cover all of the costs of the participants’ travel and accommodations in Rwanda, as well as meals that are part of the program schedule.

IRP funding comes entirely from support by private, non-partisan foundations and from individuals. 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 2011 Gatekeepers’ Fact-Finding Trip to Rwanda 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 for at least six months following the end of the trip. Application forms are available online or by contacting the IRP at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Completed applications should be sent .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)l, 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 received at the IRP office by Wednesday, September 7, 2011. Once your application has been submitted, we suggest that you contact us to ensure that it has been received. Applicants will be informed of the selection results shortly after the deadline has passed.

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