Deadline: 5 March 2012
Open to: Experienced journalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia
Scholarship: €2,000 bursary, up to another €2,000 for travel and research expenses, career development seminars in Vienna and Skopje
Description
Each year, ten journalists are chosen, through open competition, to receive funding and professional support to conduct further research into a topic of regional and EU significance – for 2012 the subject is communities. Fellows are expected to deliver investigative stories of no more than 2,000 words that will inform regional readers about issues that have not been covered by the media before.
Applicants are encouraged to consider the annual theme, communities, in a broad sense. Candidates should examine different groupings – political, economic, national, gender, generational – and the relationship between them, external influences and the development of entirely new groups or factions.Ensure you think about your story’s significance not just in your home country, but also in at least one other regional state and within the European Union. Choose phenomena that are relevant, current and original.
Eligibility
Experienced journalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia are invited to apply for the sixth annual Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme. Applicants should be proficient in English (speaking, reading and comprehension), although reports may be written in local languages.
Application
The proposal for a fellowship reporting project must be submitted using the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence application form. It must be accompanied by the signed declaration of the applicant.
In order to be properly assessed, all parts of the application form should be filled in as carefully and clearly as possible. Any additional information attached to the application must be clearly marked and included in the same e-mail in which the application is submitted.
The application must be in English.
Applicants shall provide at least one relevant example of their writing, samples may be provided in local languages.
The deadline for applications is March 5, 2012. BIRN will advise applicants if they have any questions up to this date.
Completed applications should be sent as electronic files by email to: fellowship@birn.eu.com
Or by post to:
Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence – Application
c/o: BIRN
Gospodar Jevremova 47
11000 Beograd
Serbia
Applicants will receive an email acknowledging receipt.
The application form can be found here.
