The purpose of this Fellowship is to allow a promising journalist of any discipline (reporter, feature writer, diarist, cartoonist, photographer etc) with between 5 to 10 years journalism experience to conduct relevant academic research.

The Fellow will be allotted a tutor who will provide guidance, but the Fellow is expected to be self-starting and able to set up their own programme.  It is not a course in journalism.

The holders of a Chevening Reuters Fellowship will join other international journalists on the Reuters Foundation Programme at Green College, Oxford for a term - in practice up to 13 weeks – to conduct supervised research into an approved subject relevant to their career as a journalist.  There is an allowance for travel to enable the Fellow to follow up their topic of interest outside the confines of the University.

Green College is sited in a large stately house in North Oxford and is headed by Sir John Hanson, ex Director-General of the British Council The College is a constituent part of Oxford University and Reuters Fellows have full use of the University’s facilities.

Anyone who has been educated or has recently spent a significant amount of time in the UK already should not apply.

The award consists of:

1. a grant for a budget return airfare from New Zealand to London
2. all College and University tuition fees
3. a stipend of £250 per week for up to 13 weeks designed to cover the costs of single student life (food and accommodation) in Oxford
4. a £700 allowance for incidentals and travel within the UK.

Medical and travel insurance is recommended and is the responsibility of the Fellow.

The Chevening Reuters Fellowship is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening Award Scheme and managed in Wellington on behalf of the British High Commission by the British Council New Zealand.

Conditions

1. the award is open to established journalists with between 5 to 10 years journalism experience, of New Zealand nationality, currently employed by a New Zealand daily, Sunday, weekly or business newspaper, a magazine, New Zealand radio or New Zealand television;
2. the candidate must be nominated by the Editor of a recognised newspaper or magazine or the News Editor of a radio station or television channel who must undertake to release fully the employee for the relevant period and to continue to pay full salary while the Fellow is in the UK. Stories by the Fellow for their employer may not be filed and/or produced during the tenure of the Fellowship;
3. applicants should have sufficient experience in journalism to have demonstrated a commitment to it as a career and have shown sufficient promise to expect to rise, in due course, to editorial responsibility;
4. applicants should be ready to advise the selection panel on how they would expect their experience and research to benefit their work on return to New Zealand;
5. on their return to New Zealand, the Fellow will submit a 1,000 word report on their project to the British High Commission and give a presentation on their research conducted in the UK;
6. Fellows will provide any published material produced as a result of their time in the UK. The writing of feature articles on aspects of contemporary Britain for publication in New Zealand is welcomed.

Application process

An update on the Reuters Fellowship will be posted in February 2007. For more information contact Nicky Johnson.