EUD Fellowship 2023: Call for EU journalists (closed)

After the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion, n-ost has been focusing its efforts on supporting journalists from Ukraine through fundraising campaigns and close partnerships. At the beginning of 2023, n-ost launched the new project “The Europe-Ukraine Desk”, which aims to foster exchange and cross-border collaboration between journalists from Ukraine and Bulgaria (BG), France (FR), Germany (DE), Hungary (HU), Italy (IT), and Spain (ES).

“The Europe-Ukraine Desk” connects media professionals with a genuine interest in the subject of Ukraine. The project consists of fellowship programmes, a subsequent grant programme for the development of joint publications, and a weekly newsletter summarising current discussions about Ukraine in BG, FR, DE, HU, IT, and ES.

The fellowship programme kicks off with a study tour to Ukraine on 8-13 May 2023. Its purpose is to develop a deeper understanding of daily life in a country at war and to bring together fellows and Ukrainian media professionals and organisations. Please see below for more details.

We encourage to apply journalists who:

• have a longstanding experience in foreign reporting;
• have an interest in Ukraine;
• work in media in BG, FR, DE, HU, IT, and ES with a wide outreach;
• are in a position to influence topic selection;
• have a very good command of English.

You should feel invited to apply even if you have never been to Ukraine before or have not been covering Ukraine.

Time of the study visit to Ukraine: 8-13 May 2023.

Application deadline: 9 April 2023 (midnight CET).

To submit your application, please, fill in the registration form via this link. In the process, you will be asked to upload your CV in English with a list of your latest relevant publications.

Funding and organisation: A total of 18 journalists, 3 per above mentioned country, can join the 2023 fellowship programme. All travel, accommodation, and catering costs during the stay will be covered. Additional costs, such as insurance, mobile communication etc, should be borne by the fellows. Working language: English.

Itinerary and programme of study visits: Selected fellows will visit independent and public editorial offices. They will meet their Ukrainian colleagues in Kyiv, international correspondents currently based in Kyiv, as well as prominent representatives of civil society. There also will be a possibility to visit towns in the Kyiv region that were under occupation by Russian troops (Bucha, Irpin). Travelling to the frontline is NOT part of the programme.

Safety notice: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is ongoing and the security situation remains volatile. We will consider the safest possible transportation means and routes, keep alert to air raid warnings and plan the locations close to shelters. The n-ost team has been monitoring the media for security conditions and following instructions of the Ukrainian local authorities. However, the decision to visit Ukraine is at your own risk and presumes a high level of personal responsibility.

Despite all the risks, many journalists and foreign correspondents continue to work in Ukraine today. We believe that visiting Ukraine in person has an extremely useful impact on understanding the Ukrainian context, especially in war times. It will, therefore, be a profound enrichment of the fellows’ journalistic perspectives.

Further developments

Newsletter: From mid-July, fellows will be receiving a weekly newsletter shedding light on the current narratives on Ukraine in all participating countries.

Grant: At the same time, n-ost will open applications for a special grant programme (available until the end of 2024). Every month the jury will assign stipends to journalistic projects submitted by fellows. Financial support will be granted to productions with high-quality journalistic content about Ukraine.

International network: The project will result in a network of strong professional contacts between European and Ukrainian fellows, foreign correspondents and media outlets.

We are looking forward to your applications. Should you have any questions, please address them to Antonina Rybka rybka@n-ost.org.

The project is funded by the European Commission and will run until the end of 2024.