Medill National Security Journalism Initiative Offers Scholarships
March 3, 2010
Medill is offering a unique opportunity in fall 2010 to graduate students to participate in a fifth quarter program specializing in national security reporting.
Each student selected for the project will receive a $7,500 scholarship for the 11-week project, which coincides with the fall quarter. Students are not enrolled in other classes during the fall reporting project. Josh Meyer, director of education and outreach for the Initiative, will lead the project. Meyer is a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times who covered national security and terrorism for the last decade before joining Medill in January. Professor Ellen Shearer, director of the Washington Program, also will be involved in the project.
"Students will have the opportunity to travel around the country or the globe to investigate the intersection of U.S. national security interests and the effects of climate change,” Shearer says.
Project description:
Top U.S. military and intelligence officials now say they consider the destabilizing effects of intensifying climate change to be one of their top national security concerns. You will document efforts to respond to the threats created by global warming-including flooding from increasingly violent storms, rising sea levels, pandemics, drought, starvation, mass migration and large-scale refugee problems -- that officials believe will destabilize entire regions and encourage terrorism.
You will be out in the field reporting on this new national security front -- from the corridors of power in Washington to the United Nations to far-flung locations that could include the shrinking ice cap of the Arctic Circle to the expanding deserts of sub-Saharan Africa.
You will have unparalleled access to the top national security thinkers and practitioners through briefings and seminars as well as field trips that likely will include the National War College, the Pentagon, Quantico and other military bases.
You will use innovative, multimedia storytelling and interactive resources to present your reporting, which will be distributed through media partnerships as well as featured on the National Security Journalism Initiative's Web site, www.medillnsj.org. The Washington Program's past projects have partnered with such organizations as the Associated Press, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, NewsChannel 8, the Tribune Company's Washington Bureau and others.
At the end of the project, the in-depth reporting expertise you will have gained will provide excellent positioning for the job market. In addition to opportunities at national network and cable news organizations, national and major metro newspapers and wire services, there are many journalism opportunities in local and regional news organizations and in specialty publications. For instance, there are news outlets near most of the country's 71 air force, 59 army, 14 marine and 57 naval bases with a strong interest in reporting about military and national security issues. In addition, there are specialized news outlets focusing on many of the domestic law enforcement and intelligence gathering hubs established by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies since Sept. 11.
Who can apply:
To qualify, you must have finished your four quarters of study before the start of Fall Quarter 2010 and be in good academic standing. Students who are completing their graduation requirements in spring are eligible.
Prerequisite: Either the U.S. Security and Civil Liberties Reporting class taught in Chicago, the Covering Conflicts and Terrorism seminar taught in Washington in spring and summer or preferably both. However, if scheduling prevents you from enrolling in either, please contact Gwen Archibald to discuss an exception.
Briefings and short research assignments will be held in late spring and summer (online) to help students prepare for the reporting project.
Applicants must submit:
1. A one-page memo outlining reporting project ideas.
2. Story samples (either as links or attachments).
3. One faculty reference.
4. Resume.
5. List of proficiency levels (literate, proficient, advanced) for the following: audio reporting, video shooting and editing, Flash, photography, database (computer-assisted) reporting.
Deadline: March 15.
A panel of faculty members will select the project reporters by March 26.
Send materials to:
Josh Meyer, Director of Education and Outreach
National Security Journalism Initiative
c/o Medill Washington Program
1325 G St. NW, Suite 730
Washington, D.C. 20005
joshmeyerdc@yahoo.com
Issues related to national security are likely to be among the most important stories of this century. Abundant research indicates a strong level of interest among the public. This fifth quarter program will give Medill students the knowledge, reporting and innovative storytelling experience to play a key role in serving that public interest. It is part of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, funded by the McCormick Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation.
