CFAs: Media Research Collaboration Fellowship for Environmental Reporting

The media fellowships aim to support MTT’s granted projects in the Mekong Region to better communicate their science to the public for enhanced visibility and policy impacts.

The media-research collaboration fellowship seeks to enable collaboration and close interactions between MTT’s knowledge-based policy influence organizations (KBPIOs) that focus on generating or using the evidence to inform the policy and practice (e.g., think tanks, researchers, and practitioners) and those that influence the changes in society through the public (e.g., Mekong-based journalists).

Journalists and media practitioners awarded the fellowship will receive guidance from MTT researchers, who will provide access to their research and study sites to enhance their capacity to report on environmental issues. MTT researchers will supply scientific messaging to help journalists report on complex environmental stories drawn from issues around the intersections of water security, energy security, and climate change impacts in the Mekong, share access to networking opportunities, and coordinate visits to the research field sites. While the story must relate to the key themes within the MTT program and granted projects, media fellows are expected to maintain their independence in choosing the focus and angle of their story and the format and delivery of their outputs.

Objectives

• MTT’s media-research collaboration fund aims to:
  • Strengthen the collaboration between media and research in the Mekong Region to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and evidence on critical sustainability issues to policymakers and the general public.
  • Enhance the capacity of MTT researchers in communicating to non-academic audiences.
  • Enhance the contextual and in-depth reporting of complex environmental and scientific topics related to MTT work.
  • Promote and raise the visibility of MTT’s work in the Mekong Region.

Funding Information

• Six fellowships worth up to AUD 5,000 (USD 3,300) will be awarded to selected applicants. This comprises a fellowship honorarium of AUD 3,000 (provided in two tranches) and up to AUD 2,000 to cover actual travel and related costs for the field visit to meet researchers and study sites.
• The fellowship amount is designed to recognize that the media fellow will spend at least 20 working days on the media-research collaboration.
• At the end of the fellowship period, media fellows must submit a financial report (using the supplied template) along with receipts or supporting documents for travel reimbursement and other costs (of no more than AUD 2,000)

Required Outputs

• The media fellows need to submit at least one of the following:
  • Text-based stories with accompanying images: 1000–3000 words plus two or three images.
  • Short films or video interviews: (6–10 minutes) with a 200-word written summary (and English subtitles if needed).
  • Audio podcasts: No longer than 20 minutes with a 200-word written summary.
  • The outputs can be in an English language publication. The output can also be produced in Khmer, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese or other Mekong Region languages, but English translation (i.e. transcript for print and podcast or subtitles for multimedia video) must be provided.
  • The media fellows are expected to also participate in their in-country MTT events (such as knowledge exchange or policy workshops), visit MTT project field sites, participate in one MTT regional forum, and support MTT communications activities of interest.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be citizens of or based in the countries of the Mekong Region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam). They encourage early-career media professionals to take advantage of this opportunity.
  • Journalists (early to mid-career, freelancers or groups of beginner journalists who wish to collaborate).
  • Multimedia producers (early career) who work with photography, audio, video, and or animation.
• Early-career candidates from diverse genders, indigenous groups, people with diverse ethnicities, and persons with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.
• Both freelance and staff journalists can apply. Freelance journalists are encouraged to provide a supporting letter of intent from an outlet or organization that will disseminate their work.
• The MTT Secretariat reserves the right to maintain a balanced portfolio of media fellowships considering required support of MTT’s program activities including granted projects, which may involve considering the countries of origin and gender diversity of the media fellows.

For more information, visit SUMERNET.