Africa-China Reporting Project-Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop

Job Description

Dialogue Earth and the Wits Africa-China Reporting Project invite journalists, media scholars and professionals in South Africa to submit applications to participate in the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop, 1 November 2024, to be held at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Applicants must have a demonstrated engagement with the free Reporting Climate Change in Africa Online Course, with the aims of developing their reporting skills and knowledge of climate change within the contexts of Africa, and of producing impactful journalism.

The Reporting Climate Change in Africa project aims to help build the field of climate journalism in Africa. This supports the wider development of journalism and environmental civil society on the continent, and helps to create opportunities for media professionals, organisations and NGOs that demand a greater voice in the public sphere. The project represents a ground-breaking collaboration between four global organisations; Dialogue Earth, Wits Africa-China Reporting Project, Development Reimagined, and The China Global South Project, under the funding framework of the Africa Climate Foundation (ACF).

African voices have been excluded from the global conversations around climate change and the just transitions, and there is scant awareness of climate change solutions appropriate to African realities. The continent’s choices of partners and technologies remain contingent on external drivers; stakeholders lack the tools for making proactive choices around partnerships for the climate and environment initiatives.

Informed media coverage is required to improve public participation, and to support greater awareness of the risks and opportunities among development partnerships and initiatives related to climate change mechanisms, and their impact on the grass roots, technological and financing options, African resources and manufacturing in the renewable energy industry. African media can play a greater role in showcasing African perspectives and needs, in scrutinizing governments’ and business roles in partnership with global players and investors.

The Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop will feature expert-led discussions, interactive sessions and skills training on reporting climate change in Africa. The Workshop will engage six modules presented in the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Online Course, as well insights of its applicability to reporting African perspectives and contexts, with an emphasis on voices of women, youth, and other under-represented groups.

Applications must present an interest and experience in reporting climate change in Africa, with the aims of developing their reporting skills and knowledge of climate change reporting centered in the continent, and of producing impactful journalism. Selected Workshop participants will have an opportunity, after the Workshop, to submit a reporting grant proposal application on their topic of choice relevant to their interests and/or community, with a total budget of no more than US$ 1, 500. Applicants must have successfully completed the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), as a demonstration of their learning, in order to apply for a reporting grant, after the Workshop.

How to apply

To apply, send an email titled “Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop Johannesburg” with all required application documents listed below, to africa-china@journalism.co.za by Friday 18 October 2024.

Please submit the following to your application:

1. Applicant’s resumé/CV, samples of published or broadcast work (if available), and supporting letters of recommendation and certificates.
2. Applicant’s valid passport copy or RSA Identity document.
3. Applicant’s valid permit (if non-South African working or residing in South Africa).
4. Applicant’s letter of Motivation (of no more than 2 pages) to attend the Workshop.

Workshop terms:

• During the Workshop, participants will engage with the modules of the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
• Workshop participants will receive a stipend for their attendance to the Workshop.
• Eligible applicants are African journalists, media scholars and professionals located in the continent and/or outside of the continent. Fieldwork that is being proposed for the reporting grant must be undertaken in an African country.
• Applicants are required to explicitly confirm their independent status and declare any affiliations which may be considered problematic and/or aligned to terrorist groups, including declaring full compliance with OFAC sanctions.
• The Wits Centre for Journalism and Dialogue Earth, will accept no responsibility for the work produced or the conduct of the grantee but retains the right to use any material published as a result of a grant for publicity and promotional purposes although it will at all times provide due accreditation to the journalist/author.

For inquiries, please email africa-china@journalism.co.za