Mongabay Africa is introducing its scholarship program for environmental journalism in French-speaking regions across the African continent. This initiative offers aspiring journalists residing in significant biodiversity hotspots the opportunity to produce reports on pressing environmental issues. The aim is to support the career advancement of participants by providing training, hands-on experience, and credibility in environmental journalism. Ultimately, Mongabay hopes that fellows will become integral members of its expanding global network, contributing regularly to its platform.
The Mongabay Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism is a program designed to support and empower journalists in Africa who are dedicated to reporting on environmental issues. Mongabay, an environmental news platform, offers these scholarships to journalists across the African continent to enhance their capacity to cover environmental topics effectively and accurately.
The program typically provides financial support to selected journalists to undertake specialized training, workshops, conferences, or other educational opportunities focused on environmental journalism. This support may cover tuition fees, travel expenses, accommodation, and other related costs associated with participating in the training or event.
In addition to financial support, the Mongabay Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism may also offer mentorship, networking opportunities, and access to resources and experts in the field of environmental reporting. These additional benefits help journalists improve their skills, expand their professional networks, and stay abreast of the latest developments and best practices in environmental journalism.
By investing in the professional development of environmental journalists in Africa, Mongabay aims to strengthen the quality and depth of environmental reporting on the continent. This, in turn, helps raise awareness about critical environmental issues, promotes informed decision-making, and contributes to the conservation and sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources.
The Mongabay Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism play a vital role in supporting and promoting high-quality environmental reporting in Africa, empowering journalists to become effective advocates for environmental conservation and sustainable development in their communities and beyond.
Eligibility Criteria For The Mongabay Africa Scholarships
- Applicants must aspire to pursue a career as an environmental journalist
- Applicants must be able to work remotely with a good internet connection and webcam, and commit to a total of 10 hours of work per week.
- For this first cohort, candidates must reside in one of the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger or Togo.
- No level of education is required to apply. This scholarship program is not linked to any university.
- All application documents must be submitted in the appropriate language (French for the French-speaking program).
- All documents must comply with the guidelines below or risk disqualification.
The scholarship program
In addition to its English- and Spanish-speaking fellowship programs, Mongabay Africa’s French-speaking fellowship program for environmental journalism supports up to 12 fellows per year. Each cohort will consist of six fellows from various countries.
Under the supervision of editors-in-chief, fellows will gain valuable experience in our international news organization. There they will develop their skills in environmental reporting and create a portfolio of original publications, intended to help them in their career development.
Logistics
- The scholarship program runs twice a year: from April to June and from October to December, and targets six countries on the African continent, which differ depending on the cohorts.
- The application window for the April-June cohort is February 26 – March 15. For the October-December cohort, it takes place from June 15 to July 1.
- Each scholar receives $500 USD per month during the 3 months of the program, for a total of $1,500 USD. He will work closely with the editor-in-chief of scholarship programs as well as other journalists in the editorial office to produce a total of three reports.
- Each fellow thus undertakes to work 10 hours per week to produce an average of one report per month. His productions are intended to be published on the Mongabay site.
Required Qualifications
- Understanding of the basics of reporting and interest in writing news articles
- Interest in nature conservation issues
- Aspire to a career as an environmental journalist
- Proven information and writing skills
- Ability to meet scholarship program planning requirements
- Any affinity towards multimedia content will be carefully considered
Method of Application
Application Deadline: March 15, 2024.
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