APF Canada’s Media Fellowship Program 2018-2019

Deadline: April 16, 2018

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is welcoming applications for their 2018-2019 Media Fellowship Program. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, supported in part by Cathay Pacific Airways, offers up-and-coming and established journalists the opportunity to spend time in Asia researching and preparing stories. The program aims to help Canadian journalists become better informed about this dynamic part of the world in order to write and broadcast insightfully on Asia and the Canada-Asia relationship.

The fellowship accepts creative proposals that examine important and emerging stories on issues impacting Asia and relevant to Canada. The broad themes for 2018-2019, linked to APF Canada’s strategic pillars and activities in 2018-19, are:

• Innovation, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT)
• Trade and Investment, including Canada’s entrepreneur diaspora in Asia, and Canadian MSMEs in Indonesia and the Philippines
• Advancing Sustainability, including cleantech in China
• Building Asia Competency and Skills, including how young people in Asia view Canadian education
• Nontraditional Security Threats, including issues around food and water security

Fellowship

• The Foundation will award up to three fellowships in 2018-19, each valued at up to C$10,000 for in-country travel and expenses, and coverage of trans-Pacific travel with support in part from Cathay Pacific Airways;
• Two of the three 2018-2019 APF Canada Media Fellows will receive a two-night stopover in Hong Kong courtesy of Hong Kong’s award-winning airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, and fly Cathay Pacific’s Premium Economy Class departing from either Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong and one onward destination in Asia or Mainland China, operated by Cathay Pacific or sister airline, Cathay Dragon.

Eligibility

• Open to any journalist who is a citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada, employed by a Canadian magazine, newspaper, news service, business publication, radio, television station, new media or multimedia outlet as a reporter, feature writer, columnist or as a freelancer;
• Applicants must have at least two years experience in their field and have an established history of publication in Canadian news media. Previous recipients have ranged from veteran reporters to promising journalists;
• Recipients of Media Fellowship awards from APF Canada are not eligible to apply until three years after their previous award.

Expected Deliverables

• A minimum of three stories with at least one intended for digital media (proposals that are targeted to a 18-45 demographic are particularly encouraged);
• Implementation of a social media strategy (including, but not limited to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) promoting your stories to a wider audience;
• One 60-second video, podcast or blog post aggregating your work upon completion of the fellowship for APF Canada’s website;
• One 750-word travel or lifestyles/leisure blog about their stopover in Hong Kong courtesy of Cathay Pacific, for Fellows directly supported by Cathay.

Selection Criteria

Successful applicants will be selected by a jury formed by APF Canada. The key criteria are: significance of the topic, project feasibility, potential impact and personal qualifications. The judges’ decision will be final.

Application

Applications should include:

• A 500-750-word (max.) proposal. The proposal should demonstrate the motivation and rationale for choosing a topic of interest and why it is important to the intended audience. It should include a detailed outline of concrete steps for the assignment, including a plan of execution and dissemination highlighting where the resulting articles/programs will be published or broadcast;
• A budget of up to C$7,000, including materials and other basic expenses, but excluding trans-Pacific travel. (NOTE: If applicant does not reside in either of the Cathay Pacific departing cities (Toronto or Vancouver), budget can include travel to one of these departing Canadian cities.)
• A current CV
• Two examples of written or broadcast work. Where possible, please provide links to the examples of previous work. Alternatively, please include copies as a single PDF or as digital media files
• A letter from a prospective editor/producer, stating a willingness, in principle, to run stories resulting from this trip, subject to normal editorial judgment.

Applications and questions may be emailed to: michael.roberts@asiapacific.ca or mailed to:

Communications Manager
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
900-675 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C.
V6B 1N2

Applications are accepted in English and French.