As part of EJN’s CBD Fellowship, we intend to award eight journalists — four journalists from Africa and four journalists from Latin America — with virtual fellowships to cover the UNCBD COP16.
As part of EJN’s longstanding Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP), organized in partnership with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, we intend to award 10 journalists — five journalists from South Asia and five journalists from Europe and Eurasia* — with virtual fellowships to cover the UNFCCC COP29 remotely.
For both conferences, selected virtual fellows will receive training, mentorship and other support to facilitate remote reporting on these important events. Fellows will have the opportunity to engage with their cohort and share knowledge and ideas for effective reporting, as well as partake in sessions with in-person Fellows. They will benefit from a series of specially designed activities, including an orientation workshop, daily briefings, mentoring, and assistance. Veteran regional journalists will provide valuable insight into the proceedings from on the ground in Baku and Cali, as well as tools, resources, editing and guidance as needed to support fellows to produce in-depth coverage of the negotiations and their outcomes.
All fellows will also receive a communications stipend of $100 to ensure that they have consistent access to the virtual activities of the fellowship.
Eligibility
Requirements for the two Fellowships are different so please read the below carefully:
To be eligible for the CBD Virtual Fellowship to cover UNCBD COP16 remotely, applicants must:
- Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from either of the two eligible regions: Africa* or Latin America** (see below for a list of eligible countries);
- Commit to participate in all fellowship activities (up to 20 hours in total across the fellowship period), including:
- Four weekly 60-90 minute virtual training sessions in the month leading up to the COP
- 1-2-1 sessions with your mentor as needed
- Daily 30–60-minute virtual briefings from the COP between 21 October – 1 November 2024
- Commit to spend 4-6 hours independently crafting each of your stories from the conference;
- Have sufficient internet access, internet speed and local broadband capacity to allow them to attend all virtual sessions on Zoom (1.0-1.5 mbps), or can secure good internet access with use of the stipend to be provided; be able to complete an Internet speed test;
- Have a good command of the English language;
- Have previous experience reporting on biodiversity and environmental issues, and can clearly indicate the kinds of stories they would like to pursue during the conference;
- Share an up-to-date resume/CV;
- Provide a letter of support from an editor, producer or supervisor who can confirm that your news reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet. Freelancers are welcome to apply but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report; and
- Provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples on biodiversity topics, which can be uploaded as documents or web links. Stories can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis. Clips must focus on biodiversity topics and should have been published in the last 12 months.
Apply here: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/virtual-reporting-fellowships-to-the-uncbd-cop16-and-unfccc-cop29
