Applications Invited for Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship Program

Follow us@ngobox

About the Organization

Rhett A. Butler founded Mongabay.com in 1999 out of his passion for tropical forests. He called the site Mongabay after an island in Madagascar.

Since then, Mongabay has grown into the world’s most popular rainforest information site and a well-known source of environmental news reporting and analysis. Today, Mongabay draws more than 6 million visitors per month and publishes stories in nearly a dozen languages. It is commonly used as an information source by mainstream media, including The Economist, Bloomberg, National Geographic, and the Associated Press. Mongabay is also widely recognized as an accurate and trust-worthy source by civil society organizations as well as development agencies.

Over the years Mongabay’s impact has been substantial. Articles on the site have sparked protests in Madagascar against a French shipping company transporting timber logged illegally from rainforest reserves and helped block destructive projects like a plan to log 70 percent of Woodlark Island off New Guinea for a giant oil palm plantation. Mongabay stories have influenced investment flows, including a decision to spare Cameroon’s rainforests from logging in order to win payments from the carbon market. Stories and photos have even inspired art.

In 2012 Mongabay.org was formed to facilitate the development of new education and journalism initiatives and leverage its existing network, traffic, and reputation. Mongabay.org aims to raise awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems.

About the Fellowship

Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship Program provides opportunities for journalists from biodiversity hotspots in tropical countries to report on critical environmental issues, gaining valuable training, experience, and credibility that will help them advance their careers in journalism and communications.

What you will do:

As a fellow of the Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship Program, you will be one of 18 annual fellows, six of whom will work at our global English news bureau, six at our Spanish-language news bureau with Mongabay-Latam, and six at our French-language news bureau with Mongabay-Africa. Each cohort will consist of three fellows per bureau during the six-month fellowship.

Fellows will work directly with the fellowship editor to produce six stories. Fellows will have opportunities to collaborate with multiple editors at Mongabay’s international news outlet, including those who specialize in different areas to develop environmental reporting skills, and create a portfolio of original publications.

Fellows are expected to engage with Mongabay for at least 10 hours a week and produce an average of one story per month over the course of the fellowship.

Each fellow will receive $500 USD a month for the duration of the six-month fellowship.

Eligibility

This fellowship is intended to provide opportunities for aspiring journalists from low- to upper-middle income tropical countries.* Click here for a list of eligible countries.

• There is no education requirement to apply for the program, and it is not linked to any university.
• Access to reliable internet is important, as this fellowship is remote.
• Mongabay does not have an office and cannot support work visas.
• Applicants must be aspiring, early-career environmental journalists.
• Applicants must be able to work remotely and commit to 10 hours per week.

Mongabay accepts applications for both our global English and Spanish-language bureaus.

Desired Experience & Qualifications / Judging Criteria:

• Basic understanding of and interest in reporting and writing news stories;
• Demonstrated interest in conservation issues;
• Demonstrated interest in environmental journalism as a career;
• Proven communication skills;
• Capacity to fulfill all of the fellowship requirements and reporting plans.

How to Apply

The fellowship will run twice a year: April 1 through Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 through March 31.

The application window for the October-March cohort will run June 15-Aug. 10.

Selections will be made by an internal Mongabay team and applicants will receive a notification regarding the status of their application at least three weeks prior to the start of the cohort.

Apply online here for the English-language program.

On the application form, you will be asked to fill out basic contact information, answer a few questions about your interest, and upload the following documents:

• Resume (1-2 pages maximum)
• Cover letter (1 page maximum) introducing yourself and answering:
• What are your career goals, and how does environmental journalism fit in?
• Why should Mongabay select you for this fellowship?
• One writing sample in a journalistic style (published or unpublished) related to conservation or other environmental issues.

For more information please check the Link

Stay in the loop with the newest RFPs and Grants through NGOBOX's WhatsApp Channel. Join now by clicking here!

Tags Environment and Sustainability Skill Development Journalism/ Reporting Others