The International Reporting Project (IRP) is pleased to announce a two-week
Gatekeeper Editors Trip to China May 8-22, 2010, for senior U.S. editors and
producers interested in learning more about this important country.
Deadline for submitting an application form for this trip is March 1, 2010.
Gatekeepers are any senior journalists – publishers, executive editors,
managing editors, broadcast producers, online editors, editorial page
editors, business editors, op-ed page editors and others – who determine
editorial content at any type of media organization. Gatekeepers must have
at least seven years of editorial experience and must supervise staff at a
fulltime job at their organization. Gatekeepers must be U.S. citizens or
else working as staff editors in the U.S. for a U.S.-based news
organization.
This trip to China will focus on issues such as health, environment,
education and economic development, with an emphasis on China’s attempts to
develop its hinterland and rural regions. The trip will include stops in
Beijing, Kunming and Chengdu. Gatekeepers will meet with a wide
cross-section of Chinese citizens in an attempt to better understand how
China is attempting to cope with social, medical and economic challenges
facing its population of 1.3 billion.
The International Reporting Project (IRP) will take up to 12 U.S.
gatekeepers on this trip to China. Editors in chief or publishers are
invited to nominate themselves or another gatekeeper from their news
organization’s senior staff. The trip will follow the models of previous IRP
Gatekeeper trips to Peru, Kenya, Turkey, Uganda, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt,
India, Lebanon/Syria, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia.
All selected Gatekeepers will be asked to gather in Washington D.C. on
Friday evening, May 7, for a dinner briefing with an expert speaker on
China. On Saturday, May 8, there will be an early breakfast orientation
meeting, followed by departure to Beijing that morning. Editors will return
to Washington D.C. on Saturday, May 22.
Gatekeepers are responsible for paying their own way between their home
cities and Washington, DC. The International Reporting Project will provide
hotel accommodations in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 7, and will cover
costs for the dinner and breakfast briefings in Washington. The IRP will
cover all of the costs of the participants’ travel and accommodations in
China, as well as meals that are part of the program schedule. (Gatekeepers’
organizations may choose to reimburse the IRP for these expenses if they so
wish.)
IRP funding comes entirely from support by private, non-partisan foundations
and from individuals. The IRP does not accept government funding of any
kind. The IRP is an independent program run by journalists for journalists,
and is based at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.
Editors interested in applying for the 2010 Gatekeepers’ Fact-Finding Trip
to China are required to fill out an application form for the fellowship.
Application forms must also be accompanied by a professional resume of no
more than two pages. Applicants must have a passport that is valid for
travel at the time of their application. Application forms are available
online here, or by contacting the IRP communications coordinator, William Colbert at
202-663-7726 or at irp@jhu.edu.
Completed applications be sent by email to irp@jhu.edu, or by fax to
202-663-7762, or by postal mail to the International Reporting Project, 1619
Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC. 20036.
All applications must be postmarked by Monday, March 1, 2010. Applicants
will be informed of the selection results in mid-March.
For more information and to apply, click here.