Action Aid International-India has been working on critical engagement with the media for many years now. Media campaigns have been carried out successfully on issues such as homelessness, dalit issues etc. To create a platform for critical engagement of the media, ActionAid offers 'Media for Change' fellowship programme. The fellowship is open to journalists working for national and regional newspapers, rural stringers, photo journalists and freelancers.
The fellowship is offered on the following issues:
- Experiences of marginalised social groups including dalits, adivasis, women and children in difficult circumstances
- Disability
- Right to food and livelihoods
- Health, HIV/AIDS
- Issue related to development perspectives.
OBJECTIVES:
- To generate writings of a vast cross-section of population on issues of peace, development and community initiatives in the country.
- To place and help publish articles and features in the mainstream media with a peoples perspective on various issues.
- To highlight the voices of the common people in the state through the media.
- To provide a space or platform in which journalists interested in writing on development may work, interact, and produce articles relevant to issues of importance to Action Aid's mandate.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
- The fellowship is open to all journalists, stringers freelancers and photo journalists working in any state of India in any languages. (e.g. Hindi, English Assamese, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Urdu)
- Dalit, tribals and women are encouraged to apply.
- They should have demonstrated a commitment to writings on social-development issues. (3 copies of published articles/photographs should be enclosed with the application. If article are published in any other language please provide a translated copy in English or Hindi.)
FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES:
- Fellowship amount (inclusive of honorarium, travel and contingency): Rs. 10,000.
- Each fellow has to write/publish at least 3 to 5 news stories/ articles on any of the issues listed above in two months time.
- ActionAid will have a right to use/reproduce wholly or partly the article generated by the fellowship programme in any publication without any additional payment to the writer.
Please apply in Hindi or English, with a brief curriculum vitae, clippings of three byline articles, and a write-up in 1000 words covering the following:
- An outline of the subject, area on which the applicant will write
- Preferred language of written communication.
- Why he/she should be selected for the fellowship.
- How this fellowship will benefit them to continue writing on social development issue after the completion.
- Details of awards/fellowships held in previous years.
- Two local references with contact addresses /telephone /email address.
The completed application must reach the following address not later than 15th August, 2005.
Kiran Shaheen
’MEDIA FOR CHANGE’ FELLOWSHIP
C-88, South Extn., Part II
New Delhi- 110049
Tel: 51640571-76
Fax: 51641891
Email: communications@actionaidindia.org
