Deadline: 20-Oct-20
Thomas Reuters Foundation has launched a program, “Coverage of global events using the example of COVID -19”, for Russian-speaking journalists and freelancers to improve the skills of covering global events in the world media standards. The objectives of the program are to improve the quality of coverage of the pandemic and prepare participants to work with the themes of global disasters and incidents.
During the 8 week online program from October 28 to On December 23, 2020, program participants will have access to video briefings with influential experts and officials of international organizations such as RRDB, WTO, WHO, UNICEF and others to receive exclusive information and new ideas for publications.
In addition to two 90-minute weekly sessions, participants will be required to devote an additional 2-3 hours per week to self-study, activities, and group work. Participants will be provided with advisory support in creating relevant materials for the media where they work or collaborate as freelancers. Mentors with experience in global media will help improve the quality of these materials.
Also during the program, participants will work together to create cross-border materials. During participation in the program, each participant will significantly expand the international network of working contacts with colleagues from other countries. The program does not pay royalties. Necessary costs for the creation of materials, agreed with the organizers, will be compensated.
The program will flexibly adapt thematically in accordance with the development of events. She will give participants the skills to create materials about the current pandemic and prepare for the coverage of disasters and events of a global scale.
During the online sessions, only trainers’ presentations and lectures from invited speakers will be recorded, while group interactions, discussions, and mentoring will not be recorded. Also, discussions and discussions, feedback on the created materials will continue in a closed online chat for participants.
Aims
- To strengthen regional expertise and professional journalistic standards across the region, from the remotest areas of Siberia to the Baltic States and nations in Central Asia. To reflect upon the ethical underpinnings of the journalistic profession.
- To internationalize participating journalists and connect them with one another.
- To contribute to mutual regional and international understanding, bridging cultural divides and differences in working practices.
Benefits of the Program
To improve the quality of materials, the program provides practical masterclasses from practicing experts with experience in global media. Directions of the masterclasses:
- creating materials based on big data and techniques for their visualization;
- transforming the work of a journalist to create materials on the latest media platforms – TikTok, Telegram, YouTube, and others;
- the best techniques for visualizing materials about the pandemic and the latest non-standard ideas;
- studying formats for the development of commercial media projects in a crisis;
- ethics and standards of global media in working with health topics.
Technical Parameters
- Applicants must have access to a minimum Internet speed of 1 MB / s. (You can check the speed of your device by logging in to the address mentioned in the call.
- Participation in the program is free. Participants are expected to pay their own Internet / data transfer costs. Small grant applications from participants may be considered to support the creation of journalistic content.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- be citizens and live in one of the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Ukraine;
- work as an in-state journalist or work as a freelancer with local and Russian-language media in the respective countries;
- have over three years of professional experience in journalism and have a good level of spoken and written Russian. The main working language of the program is Russian, in rare cases, the help of mentors and coordinators can be provided in English;
- be ready to commit to participating in the program in full for all 8 weeks;
- create 1-2 individual and 1 collective journalistic material during an 8- week program;
- show a commitment to impartial, accurate, and independent journalism.
Required Documents
- 2 examples of work on this topic (maximum 5 MB file size) – in Russian;
- for full-time journalists, it is desirable to provide a letter ( an email ) support from the wording in any form in Russian or English, where the editor confirms that participation in the program has been agreed and that the topic of the program is relevant for publication in the relevant media.
For more information, visit https://tmsnrt.rs/33Jy0c5