Applications Invited for Earth Shorts 2025 Fellowship for Social Media Creators and Journalists in South and Southeast Asia

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About the Organization

Created in 2004, EJN is now a truly global network of reporters and media outlets in virtually every region of the world.

Environmental and climate change reporting is now more urgent than ever, but journalists face myriad and mounting challenges in covering these topics. The media industry is in crisis, and misinformation is on the rise. Reporters working for cash-strapped news agencies often don't have the resources to research a story properly; freelancers, even less so. That’s where EJN comes in.

About the Fellowship

Following a successful pilot project in the Philippines, EJN is launching the next phase of Earth Shorts. Earth Shorts 2025 is seeking social media content creators curious to learn more about biodiversity issues and incorporate journalism skills, as well as environmental journalists interested in building their social media skills for a joint fellowship program designed to enable both groups to share insights and create evidence-based and engaging biodiversity-related content on social media.

Benefits: 

As part of this program, we will offer US$2,000 each to 10 social media content creators and 10 journalists across South and Southeast Asia, to bring together a cohort of 20 information producers interested in boosting their skills, participating in peer learning and producing high-quality biodiversity-related video content for their audiences.

Selected content producers will participate in a three-day virtual training workshop on biodiversity and conservation issues and, with support from mentors, produce and disseminate at least five pieces of biodiversity-related video content each on social media platforms.

Eligibility

• We will accept applications from social media content creators and journalists based in South and Southeast Asia, which includes the following countries: Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Thailand (including Myanmar nationals based in Thailand), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines.
• Content creators should actively and frequently post short-form videos on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X or other leading social media platforms, relating to topics such as lifestyle, social issues, travel, science, economy, politics, and health. We ask that creators have an audience size between 20,000 and 200,000 followers. Creators should not be currently reporting for any media outlets; former journalists are eligible. Prior content focused on biodiversity is not a requirement, however, an interest in linking your work to biodiversity issues is key.
• Journalists should actively and frequently be reporting on biodiversity issues, and can be on staff at a media outlet or freelance. Journalists should have an active presence on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X or other leading social media platforms (posting at least once a week and/or regularly creating video or text content about their journalistic projects), but there is no audience size requirement. Prior experience as a content creator is not a requirement, however, an interest in increasing your social media skills is key.
• For the purposes of this grant opportunity, we will accept applications in English only. Applicants must either have a working understanding of English or have a translator available to assist with communication with Internews staff. However, creators and journalists can produce work in any language.
• EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, plagiarism and/or submitting AI-generated content as their own.

Judging criteria

Applicants should consider the following judging criteria when devising their pitches.

Selection of content creators will be based on:

• A consistent track record of producing short-form video content.
• Number of followers (between 20,000 and 200,000).

Selection of journalists will be based on:

• A consistent track record of covering biodiversity issues for media outlets.
• An active social media presence, such as posting at least once a week and creating video or text content about your journalistic projects.

All applications will also be judged using the following criteria:

• Relevance: Do the video ideas outlined in the application meet the criteria and objectives of the call? Is the main idea, context and overall value to the target audience clearly defined?
• Angle: Do your ideas for content bring new insights or offer a fresh angle on biodiversity issues?
• Impact: Do your pitches seem compelling? Are they likely to inform and engage, draw attention, trigger debate and urge action?
• Innovative storytelling: The use of creative video editing approaches, narrative styles and/or data will be considered a plus.
• Motivation: Demonstrated interest in using social media to produce impactful content on biodiversity and clear plan to continue producing this kind of content following the fellowship.
• Availability: Selected fellows will need to take part in the pre- and post-workshop surveys, join all three days of the training workshop, attend all peer learning sessions, and commit to producing and disseminating at least five pieces of content by February 2026.

How to Apply

Click the ‘Apply now’ button at the top of the page.

If you have an existing account, you’ll need to log in. Since we recently updated our website, you might have to reset your password by clicking the "Forgot password?" link in the login page. If you don't have an account, you must register by clicking "Log in" on the top right of the page and click the "Sign up" link at the bottom of the page that opens. Click here for detailed instructions on how to create an account, and here for detailed instructions on how to reset your password.

You may apply for this opportunity by submitting a written proposal in any language or a short video. If you submit a video application, please include English subtitles. If you start the application and want to come back and complete it later, you can click 'Save Draft.' To return to the draft, you'll need to go back to the opportunity and click 'Apply now' again to finalize the application. Applications should provide a detailed budget in an Excel spreadsheet with justification for the amount requested. Download the budget template now by clicking on this link.

Application Deadline: July 16, 2025, 11:59 PM

For more information please check the Link

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