Apply Now for IRP’s New Media Fellowships in 2013

Application deadline: December 7, 2012

In 2013, the IRP will offer up to six year-long reporting fellowships to influential journalists and media figures who are actively engaged in the new media landscape, using new media and multimedia tools, with strong ties to a social media community, in order to support reporting projects on issues related to health, development, and innovation in the developing world.

Priority for these 12-month reporting grants will be given to journalists and other new-media practitioners from the United States, Brazil, France, Germany, Australia, India, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and sub-Saharan Africa, but applications from other countries and regions are welcomed.

IRP New Media Fellows will receive a stipend of US$15,000 to produce new and original content focusing on issues specific topics dealing with themes related to poverty, health, foreign assistance/aid and economic progress in the developing world. All candidates must fill out an application form on which they should describe the stories they would produce during the calendar year 2013. A brief telephone interview with finalists would also be part of the selection process.

IRP New Media Fellows should propose producing both short-form and long-form reports in a variety of media, such as regular blog posts, tweets, video blogs, slideshows on Storify or Flickr, multimedia series, video documentaries, as well as in-depth stories online, in print, radio or television media. Multimedia productions are encouraged.

Topics could include a wide variety of health issues affecting developing countries, including new developments in treating diseases such as TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS, efforts to alleviate poverty, stories on maternal and child health, access to reproductive care, access to clean water, food security and stories on how health issues are affected by global, national or local programs and policies on education, gender, religion, culture, and related political or economic factors, or closely related themes.

IRP New Media Fellows may use part of their annual stipend to travel but in general these fellowships are intended for international Fellows to report on global health and development issues from their country of residence in 2013. IRP New Media Fellows who are citizens of US or European countries may be based in their own countries or abroad. In either case, the IRP New Media Fellows would be expected to cover issues affecting health and development in the developing world. Fellows may also have the option of participating in an IRP New Media Journalists trip in 2013 if appropriate.

All of the content produced by the IRP New Media Fellows would be co-owned by the IRP and the selected Fellows. All material (subject to editorial review) would be posted on the IRP site, along with links to other organizations where the work of the IRP New Media Fellows appears. In addition, the works produced during the Fellowship would be available for distributing through the social media channels of the IRP’s funders. The IRP New Media Fellowships are supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read our frequently asked questions and apply for new media fellowships by December 7, 2012.