Pulitzer Center Update

Apply Now for Fully-Funded 2018 Reporting Property Rights Workshop

Photo by Johnny Miller.  Johnny Miller contributed his drone photography and videos of unequal landscapes to the Thomson Reuters Foundation Slumscapes project. This work was an extension of Johnny's own pioneering work that he calls Unequal Scenes.

Urbanization, resource extraction, forestry concessions, rangelands, the growth of agri-business: Property Rights underpin a myriad of major issues that African reporters cover every day.  Access to land is crucial to boosting productivity, alleviating poverty and eradicating hunger, addressing gender inequalities, and identifying solutions to the barriers hindering agricultural growth on the continent.

This program, which is a collaboration between the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, will assist Southern African journalists in understanding property rights and incorporating it in their reporting, whether they cover business and industry, the environment, urban revitalization, indigenous rights, food security, or a range of other topics.

Inadequate access to land and insecure land tenure are factors behind rural poverty, urban slum growth, gender inequality, violence, and human rights abuses.  But when those issues are controversial or sensitive how easy is it to report without inflaming tensions further—or even compromising your own safety?

The program will involve a four-day workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa from July 31 - August 3, 2018. We will also offer modest funding to journalists with outstanding story ideas on property rights, as well as editorial support to help them realize these ideas, drawing on the Reuters principles of accuracy, integrity, and freedom from bias.

The four-day workshop will feature content on understanding property rights, and how the issue relates to Southern Africa; journalism skills and research techniques; approaches to building sources in this field; and talks from guest experts.

ELIGIBILITY

Journalists working for domestic media anywhere in Southern Africa are eligible.

Journalists working in any medium may apply—print, radio, TV, online.

Journalists must be fluent in English.

Journalists must have a minimum of one year's experience. They should either be working full-time for a media organization, or a freelancer whose main work is journalism.

FUNDING

We will cover all transport and subsistence costs for journalists from South Africa, and we will cover airfare, lodging, and subsistence for journalists from other Southern African countries.

DEADLINE: June 4, 2018

APPLY HERE

SUBMISSIONS

When applying you will be asked to upload the following documents—please have these ready:

2 relevant work samples (maximum file size 5 MB)—in English if possible. For stories not in English, please include a 250-word English summary of the story. 

A letter from your editor consenting to your participation in the programme and committing to publish/broadcast resulting stories

Please note you will be asked to submit one or more story ideas within your application.  We will not share your ideas with anyone. 

If you have any difficulties applying, please email [email protected].