American journalists have until March 1, 2018, to apply for a professional exchange program in Germany. Successful applicants will spend August and September living, working and reporting for their home and host news organizations from across the Atlantic.
The Arthur F. Burns Fellowships is a competitive program open to U.S., Canadian and German journalists between the age of 21-40, who are employed by a newspaper, news magazine, broadcast station, news agency or who work freelance and/or online. Applicants must have demonstrated journalistic talent and a strong interest in North American-European affairs. German language proficiency is not required, but it is encouraged.
The Fellowship offers three options:
-Option 1: Following an orientation program in Washington, North American fellows participate in an intensive, two-week-long language training at Goethe Institutes in fellows' host cities. Expenses for language training will be covered and details are made available shortly after announcement of selected fellows (around the end of April). In August and September, fellows work as temporary staff members at host newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations while reporting for their own news organization back home.
-Option 2: As of the 2015 program, an additional format has been introduced allowing North American journalists the opportunity to work in Germany for five to six weeks, throughout August and part of September. Journalists who prefer this format will not be formally “hosted” by a German newsroom but will instead be connected with Burns program alumni who will mentor them during their time abroad. Fellows will focus on implementing a previously proposed major story or project for their home media. The story or project must be endorsed by an editor at a media outlet upon application and publication guaranteed. They will not participate in the two-week language training.
-Option 3: As of the 2016 program, a third option has been introduced allowing North American developers, technologists, designers, UX experts and digital entrepreneurs the chance to spend two months at a German news organization or technology company. There they will work with their new colleagues while developing tools they can bring back to their own news organizations or companies. They will spend the first two-weeks of the Fellowship in the intensive language training.
Each U.S. Fellow receives a $4,000 stipend to cover living expenses during the 9-week-long fellowship in Germany. Participants also receive $1,200 for travel expenses or a travel voucher, and the program also pays living expenses during the orientation in Washington, D.C. Those fellows on the 5-6 week program will receive an amount proportional to their fellowship length.
The program – under patronage by German Ambassador Peter Wittig in Washington, Canadian Ambassador Stéphane Dion in Berlin, and German Ambassador Sabine Sparwasser in Ottawa – is jointly administered by the International Center for Journalists in Washington, D.C. and the Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP) in Königstein, Germany.
To apply, visit https://www.icfj.org/burns