U.S. Embassy Announces the East-West Center’s 2016 Jefferson Fellowships Program for Journalists

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U.S. Embassy, Port Moresby: The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii is now accepting applications for the 2016 Jefferson Fellowships Program.

Jefferson Fellowships offer print and broadcast journalists from the United States, Asia, and the Pacific Islands the unique opportunity to gain on-the-ground perspectives and build international networks to enhance their reporting through an intensive one-week education and dialogue seminar at the East-West Center in Honolulu followed by two weeks of a study-tour program that includes travel in the Asia Pacific-U.S. region.

The Jefferson Fellowships is the East-West Center’s most widely-recognized and established seminar program, with an illustrious alumni network of more than 600 Jefferson Fellows across the Asia Pacific region and the United States. The broad goal of the program is to enhance public understanding through the news media of cultures, issues, and trends in the Asia Pacific region. Participation in the Jefferson Fellowships provides journalists with enhanced knowledge of the most important regional issues, valuable professional contacts, and life-long friendships with their colleagues in the program, as well as access to the East-West Center’s international network of more than 1,000 media professionals and 50,000 alumni. The program is made possible through a generous grant from The Freeman Foundation of Stowe, Vermont and supplemented by contributions from news organizations, the U.S. government, and other foundations.

These grant funds provide for 10-12 full or partial scholarships, including approximately 4-5 for qualified American journalists and 7-8 for Asia Pacific journalists. All participants, regardless of the scholarship amount, must pay an $800 U.S. dollar programming fee to cover costs not provided by the scholarship funds. Participants are also responsible for all applicable visa fees, any additional visa-related expenses, health insurance, and baggage fees. Full sponsorship for one journalist would be approximately $5,125 U.S. dollars plus international airfare. Participants and their media organizations are strongly encouraged to cost share. The U.S. Embassy will consider journalist and media organization proposals for sponsorship and cost sharing.

The deadline for submitting applications to the 2016 Jefferson Fellowships Program is January 29, 2016. Print, broadcast, and on-line journalists working in the United States, Asia, and the Pacific Islands may apply. Journalists with a minimum of five years of work experience are preferred. English fluency is required.

The theme for the 2016 Jefferson Fellowships Program is, “Future of Growth in Asia Pacific” and the program is scheduled for April 30 – May 22, 2016. Participants could expect program travel to include: Honolulu, Hawaii; Beijing and Guiyang, China; and, Tokyo and Fukuoka-Kitakyushu, Japan. For additional information about the program, application instructions, and to learn about scholarship funding opportunities, please refer to the East-West Center’s website:http://www.EastWestCenter.org/jefferson.