Fellowship Programme on the Impact of Conflict and War on Media and Journalism

Free Press Unlimited (FPU), in collaboration with Maharat Foundation, is launching a fellowship programme on “The Impact of Conflict and War on Media and Journalism in the MENA.”

Overall Context

Free Press Unlimited (FPU) is implementing a programme called “Core Support for Independent Media in the Southern Neighbourhood” with the support of the European Union from 2021 to 2026. The main objective of this programme is to provide comprehensive bespoke core support to pluralism, independence, and resilience of the media sector in the Southern Neighbourhood to withstand existing threats. The overall strategy of the programme aims to:

• Objective 1: improving sector capacities to safely produce and share more high-quality content within and outside the Southern Neighbourhood.
• Objective 2: improving business viability and resilience among the independent media outlets in the Southern Neighbourhood.
• Objective 3: strengthening existing regional networks to more efficiently convene communities of practice in the Southern Neighbourhood.

What the fellowship involves

The fellowship programme includes an online exchange programme on the topics below:

• Terminologies in times of conflict
• Internal policies of media institutions: social media expression
• Monitoring of journalists: to which extent is it allowed
• Impunity
• Sources in times of conflict
• Protection local/international
• Responsibility and limits of reporting in times of conflict
• Humanization during the conflict…what are the standards?
• Production of creative comprehensive journalistic stories/ opinion articles, provided with mentorship

Opportunity to participate in a community of practice event to share experiences, best practices and lessons learnt among the fellows.

Who can apply?

Individual journalists working in international or local media agencies, including mainstream media, digital media, media startups, non-profit, and for-profit media organisations, as well as freelancers.

Application requirements

Eligible individuals must fulfill the following criteria:

• Being a journalist or a graduate in journalism.
• Being from one of the following countries or working from abroad but targeting the following countries: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia.
• Willing to comply with core journalism principles (fact-based, accurate, independent, fair, impartial, accountable, etc.).
• Having at least basic technical capacities and experience in podcast or video production.
• Proving commitment from one or several media outlets – from one of the 8 listed countries – to publish their content (article and podcast or article and video).
• An interest in covering issues related to conflict and war impacts in the MENA region.
• The ability to commit to the entire duration of the fellowship and production period.

Duration of the fellowship

The fellowship programme will run for six months, starting in September 2024 and ending in March 2025.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is August 18, 2024. To learn more and apply, please click here.