IWMF Public Health Fellowship

The IWMF Public Health Fellowship program offers women newspaper editors and radio producers who cover public health issues in eligible countries the opportunity to receive on-the-job training with top media companies in the United States. The fellowship also requires that a fellow conduct a public health journalism project in her home country.

Two fellows will be selected in 2005 for fellowships that begin in August 2005 and end in January 2006.

This program is open to women who are working in one of these countries: Asia (China and Indonesia), West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) and Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

Program Goals

The program offers:

• Training and education in public health coverage
• Tips on coaching reporters in public health coverage
• The opportunity to learn first-hand about standards and practices in the U.S. media
• The opportunity to develop skills and experience that fellows can take back to their own countries

The Fellowship

The fellowship has two segments. Four months of on-the-job training at a U.S. media outlet will be followed by two months in the fellow’s home country, where she will implement a public health reporting project.

United States Segment

The IWMF Public Health Fellowship will begin with an orientation provided by the IWMF. It will include a program briefing, an introduction to living and working in the U.S., and an overview of the U.S. media and its tradition of freedom of the press.

The host media company will select an editor or producer who will act as an advisor to the fellow. Working together, the fellow and the advisor will create a training plan for the length of the four-month U.S. segment. This plan will include steps for increasing the fellow’s understanding of media coverage of public health issues in the U.S. and how editors and producers in the U.S. work with reporters.

The fellow will do research, conduct interviews, file stories and perform other work expected of newsroom staff. She will also be encouraged to take part in the community where the media company is located by attending community events and speaking with local groups about public health concerns in her home country.

The fellow’s advisor will be asked to assist with her home country project proposal by making recommendations for carrying out the project and introducing the fellow to relevant contacts and organizations in the U.S. The advisor may also serve as a consultant to the fellow on her project when she returns home.

The IWMF will work with both the fellow and the host media company throughout the fellowship. At the end of the U.S. segment, the fellow will evaluate the program and create a plan for incorporating her new knowledge and skills when she returns home. She will also be asked to detail any proposed modifications to her home country project.

Home Country Segment

Upon return to her home country, the fellow will dedicate two months to completing a specialized public health journalism project. This project must be set forth in a proposal as part of the fellow’s application and must have the support of her employer.

Project proposals may be connected to the fellow’s current work or explore new approaches to public health coverage. Examples of projects include a series of articles or stories, an in-depth feature or an investigation of a pressing public health concern in the fellow’s home country or region.

During the U.S. segment of the program, the fellow will have the opportunity to refine and adjust her project based on information, knowledge and contacts she develops in the U.S.

Applicants

Women who apply to the program must:

• Be dedicated to a career in journalism.
• Have five or more years of full-time journalism experience, with at least three of those years spent focusing on public health coverage. (Those demonstrating original approaches to covering HIV/AIDS will be given top consideration.)
• Be currently employed as a newspaper editor or radio producer. (Reporters are not eligible.)
• Show a strong commitment to sharing knowledge and skills with colleagues when they return home.
• Have the support of their home media outlet.
• Have excellent written and verbal English skills.

Questions

Contact us at fellowship@iwmf.org.

The IWMF Public Health Fellowship program is supported by Foundation Open Society Institute – Zug, administered by the Network Public Health Programs, Open Society Institute.