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Call for Applications

Call for Applications

 

The Washington Post and the Woodrow Wilson Center are pleased to announce the continuation of their program in support of print and online investigative journalists from Latin American and Caribbean nations. This three-week fellowship is an immersive experience which affords participants the opportunity to experience in situ a world-class newsroom and the political culture of Washington while conducting research on an issue of local, national, or regional importance in Latin America and the Caribbean or in their relationship with the United States. This year, four journalists from the region will have this unique opportunity to conduct their research with the benefit of mentorship from top investigative and political reporters – and other information, resources, and expertise – from The Washington Post as they develop new sources of information and enter into direct contact with public and private institutions.

This year’s fellowship builds upon the program’s successes over the last three years. Since the program’s inception, journalists from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela have been awarded fellowships. Working from the newsroom of The Washington Post, the reporters have written articles that have been published by the journalists’ domestic media as well as by The Post and the Wilson Center on their respective websites.

We are pleased to invite applications from Latin America and the Caribbean for the 2011 fellowship competition. The fellowship will extend from October 31, 2011 through November 18, 2011. The three-week fellowship includes travel and lodging, plus a weekly living-expense stipend. Fellows will be given a desk in the newsroom of The Washington Post; access to the newspaper’s research and database resources, reporters, editors, and research staff; and the mentorship of a Washington Post reporter. The convening institutions will develop a small number of structured activities during the journalists’ stay to give them exposure to newsworthy issues and key actors in the policy community. It is a requirement that the employer of the grantee keep him or her on payroll during the period of the fellowship.

A successful proposal will demonstrate originality and seek to break new ground on issues of local, national, or regional importance in Latin America and the Caribbean or in their relationship with the United States. Fellows are expected to produce completed works for publication in the fellow’s media and in their native language. An example of a highly successful proposal can be found beginning on page three. The article resulting from this proposal, submitted by 2009 Fellow Diana Durán Núñez, was published in Spanish in El Espectador, in English on washingtonpost.com, and won the 2010 Inter American Press Association Inter-American Relations Award for Excellence in Journalism


Requirements for Applicants:

  • Be employed by a print (daily and weekly newspapers and magazines) or online news media organization (no blogs) that regularly publishes news material and that is owned and operated independent of any government, industry, institution, association, or lobbying organization;
  • Be a bona fide reporter. Freelance reporters are eligible provided that: a) they have a stable relationship with a news organization that meets the criteria estab-lished in the bullet above and b) their main source of earned income comes from their work in journalism;
  • A minimum of 4 years of journalism experience; and
  • A strong knowledge of the English language.

Applicants should submit:

  • A single proposal not to exceed 800 words, in English, describing their project. The proposal should outline specific questions and/or topics for the article(s) to be researched during the fellowship;
  • A résumé, in English;
  • Not more than three samples of published work. Samples should be submitted in their original language and individually must not exceed 1,200 words;
  • Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a current editor, to be submitted in the recommender’s preferred language. Letters may be submitted electronically or by mail but must be sent directly by the recommender, not by the applicant. Electronic submissions should include the applicant’s full name in the subject line;
  • A cover sheet with applicant’s full name, phone numbers, e-mail, and current position.

Complete applications only should be sent to: journalism@wilsoncenter.org in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format or by mail to the address below so that they arrive by Friday, August 12, 2011. We ask that all materials except letters of recommendation be sent as a single file in the following order: cover sheet, résumé, proposal, and work samples (no links). Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. A selection committee drawn from the convening institutions, along with two external experts, will select the most qualified applicants. A phone interview will be conducted in English with the finalists during the week of August 29, 2011. The four fellows selected will be announced by Friday, September 9, 2011.

Any questions may be directed to journalism@wilsoncenter.org.

Address for Applications:
WWC-Washington Post Journalism Fellowship
c/o Latin American Program
Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20004-3027

Telephone: 202-691-4030
journalism@wilsoncenter.org