Free Press Unlimited announces Climate Change Fellowship Programme

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 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is greatly affected by the changing climate which leads to all kinds of new challenges for the region. Extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels in the Mediterranean and water shortages in other parts pose incredible challenges on people and governments.

Free Press Unlimited believes that journalism in the MENA plays a crucial role in tackling great societal challenges in relation to climate change.

The voice of local communities affected by climate change deserve to be heard much more through the media. At the same time Free Press Unlimited aims to provide journalists with the opportunity to develop journalistic approaches that go beyond highlighting the problem, but come with constructive and solution based stories which can be meaningful to local communities and decision makers. Support to journalists in the region can also address safety mechanisms since climate reports can sometimes have security implications.

Objectives

• 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.

Climate Change Fellowship Programmes

• Two Climate Change Fellowship Programmes for journalists in the Southern Neighbourhood will enable 20 fellows to tell a better climate story and inform their audience by creating stories that go beyond highlighting the problem and come with constructive solutions.
• The first fellowship programme will cover the following topic: How are young people mobilizing for climate action (creation of citizen/political movements, activism, information campaigns, etc.)?
• The second fellowship programme will cover the following topic: Climate change and innovative methods for green economy and energy transition (recycling, renewable energies, green hydrogene etc.)

Funding Information

• All the fellows will receive financial support of 500 euros.
• The 6 best stories will be awarded (1,000 euros).

Benefits

• The two fellowships will consist of:
  • Training and individual coaching throughout the fellowship when producing one story in two different formats (article, podcast or video) on climate change (January – February – March 2024).
  • Within a 10 week period, successful fellows will write and publish one story fitting in one of the above topic. Fellows will receive training at the beginning of the programme on basics of environmental journalism, information sources and journalistic angles. The fellows will also benefit from coaching throughout the  programme period from an experienced trainer/mentor on the writing process, selection of sources but also with the publication of the story. Free Press Unlimited will offer visibility of the material produced.
  • Unlimited access to Free Press Unlimited’s TOTEM platform. TOTEM is an online platform that helps journalists and activists use digital security and privacy tools and tactics more effectively in their work.
  • Two community of practice events (April 2024). During the first one, climate change experts will be invited to share knowledge on environmental issues in the MENA region and their experiences in that field. All fellows will have the opportunity to pitch their story. The second one will be the closing ceremony.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible individuals must fulfill the following criteria:
  • Be a journalist or a graduate in journalism.
  • Operating in one of 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.).
  • Addressing one of the two above climate change topics and providing means to publish content productions (commitment from one or several media outlets to publish the applicant’s content).
  • Having the technical capacities and experience in podcast or video production.
  • Proving commitment from one or several media outlets to publish their content (article and podcast or article and video).

For more information, visit FPU.