SEAPA invites mid-career journalists for fellowship programme

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KUCHING: The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is inviting mid-career journalists from Southeast Asia to apply for its 11th annual Journalism Fellowship Programme, its executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran said yesterday.

She said the fellowship carried the theme “Documenting threats to the rivers of Southeast Asia: Looking through the journalist’s lens” to focus on the management of rivers and the impact of climate change and development on water resources as well as the communities living along rivers.

“Environmental issues are not only confined to a local community as we have seen how the impact extends beyond the state boundaries. This is a relevant issue that should be explored by journalists in the region,” she said in a statement here.

The theme was chosen because it was relevant to the prevailing situation in the region, which has been hit by bouts of
natural disasters in 2011, she said.

A report from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok estimated that more than 1,000 people have died and millions more have lost their homes and livelihood due to the devastating floods that hit Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Gayathry said the fellowship is open to mid-career journalists working in the print, online or broadcast media with at least five years of experience in journalism. Freelancers are also welcome to apply.

To date, SEAPA has hosted about 100 journalists in the region, who spent between three and four weeks in a second country to investigate their stories, which are based on the theme for the year.

Topics covered by the fellows in the past have included migration, refugees and stateless children, religion, terrorism, human rights violations, ICT and the digital divide, and the free flow of information in the region.

“This is a very relevant programme that provides a unique opportunity for journalists around the region to practise and sharpen their journalism skills in different social and cultural settings,” she said, adding that at the end of the programme, the fellows would go home with a better perspective of the region.

Application forms and instructions are available on the SEAPA website at http://www.seapabkk.org and the closing date is today. Successful candidates will be announced by May 3, 2012, the global annual World Press Freedom Day. — Bernama