A non-profit organization called Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP) was founded with the goal of empowering the Indian health system to address the requirements of its population.
We are encouraging five early-career journalists to critically research public health issues and report in an informed and nuanced manner by providing them with the ‘HSTP – Health Journalism Fellowship’ of six months’ duration. The fellowship aims to foster an ecosystem of information sharing between the media and the public health community, give early-career journalists the chance to diversify their coverage of health issues and deepen their knowledge of the medical field, as well as to improve media coverage of public health issues. The chosen journalists will be presented with a prize of 1,00,000 rupees, as well as participation in an orientation training course and expert mentoring.
Focus Area:
We urge fellows to tackle important public health concerns that are frequently disregarded by the media. We are interested in proposals that explore public health challenges from the viewpoints of, among others, patients, healthcare professionals, or administrators. The fellowship program is eager to highlight various factors, such as the accessibility of medications, the health-related human resource’s competencies, the skill mix for providing primary healthcare or addressing disease outbreaks, the post-pandemic response of health systems, the significance of healthcare financing and planning, home healthcare, one health, digital health, and emergency care systems in the context of how they affect service delivery and the overall.
Articles in the media may be from rural, tribal, hilly, urban, or distant regions of the nation.
The priority states where HSTP is operating, notably Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the Northeastern states, would be given preference.
Deliverables: The fellows will be required to write and publish four media pieces or videos, either as stand-alone pieces or as part of a series, that mix investigative reporting, data journalism, and in-depth reporting from the field. Fellows are expected to publish their work in reputable print and digital media outlets, including wire services. While sharing their work, the fellows must give credit to HSTP for their assistance. The fellows are required to attend meetings with their mentors on a regular basis and the orientation training session.
Award:
The six-month fellowship will be available from August 2023 to January 2024 for a total of Rs 1,00,000 per fellow, including travel and other costs.
Eligibility:
- The applicant must be a graduate in any field,
- be a citizen of India under the age of 32,
- be currently employed as a journalist (full-time, part-time, or freelance) with print, broadcast, or digital media.
- They must also have at least three years of experience in journalism and a track record of publishing media articles and videos in English, Hindi, or any Indian vernacular language on print and digital platforms.
Application:
- Interested candidates are required to submit a complete application through the Google form with all mandatory information. Candidates can propose more than one idea for the fellowship, from one or more than one focus area of the programme (describing the topic, why it is important, the setting, stakeholders involved and likely impact or contribution of the idea); motivation for applying to the fellowship and an
updated resume, cover letter, and two previously released media articles/videos in print or digital platforms, newspapers, or magazines). - Applications will be screened based on eligibility criteria, and the relevance and strength of the proposed story idea with the fellowship’s focus, prior work in public health/health and relevant work experience in journalism. Shortlisted candidates will be called for an online interview.
- Selected fellows are expected to provide a letter from their employer/editor endorsing their participation in the fellowship, or a letter of support from a print/broadcast/digital media house indicating their willingness to issue their articles/videos.
Please note: The deadline for submitting applications is 2 July 2023, Sunday. Applications are only accepted through the Google form and incomplete applications will not be considered for evaluation.
In case of any query, please send an email to sonali.randhawa@hstp.org.in with the subject line “Application for HSTP – Health Journalism Fellowship 2023
