Internship op for young African journalists at the AU summit in January 08

AU Monitor announces initiative: Can you write well? If so...

Fahamu's AU Monitor initiative is seeking young African journalism professionals and students for a three-week internship to report from the African Union Summit being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2008.

The internships will be for the period between January16 to February 6th, 2008. The journalists will be provided training on the African Union and its organs and will be expected to produce daily reports from the summit meetings (including pre-summit civil society meetings).

Each intern must have:
• At least two years of journalism experience
• Excellent writing and analytical skills
• Excellent interviewing skills for print and audio broadcast
• Computer literacy
• Fluency in English (fluency in an additional working language of the African Union – i.e. French, Portuguese or Arabic is an advantage)
• Ability to work to deadline and under pressure
• Take initiative and work independently
• Ability to work as part of a team and have excellent communication skills
• Knowledge of the issue areas of the African Union
• Ability to use short hand is desirable

Interns will receive:
• Training on the work of the African Union and its organs
• A daily stipend and accommodation in Addis Ababa

Limited funds are available for travel costs.
To apply, please send a resume, cover letter, the names and contact details of three references, and a writing sample of no more than five hundred words (this may be an excerpt of a longer piece) [email protected]. The writing sample should demonstrate the candidate's ability to clearly and succinctly present an idea or argument in English.

Women are strongly encouraged to apply
All applications must be received by December 17, 2007. Applications received after this date will not be considered.

Job Description
Through the provision of high quality, timely information, news and analysis, the AU Monitor initiative of Fahamu aims to strengthen African civil society and citizen engagement with the African Union(AU) and its organs in the interest of promoting peace, justice, equity and accountability.

At the January summit of the African Union to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the AU Monitor seeks to produce a daily print publication the AU Monitor Daily for distribution to participants of the summit along with regular web updates for broader circulation. The AU Monitor Daily will be not only informational, but, also analytical featuring daily interviews, news, and comment and analysis.

As such, AU Monitor Daily interns will be expected to produce reports, conduct interviews and comment on summit activities while providing critical analysis of the proceedings, debates and discussions.

In addition, interns will be expected to facilitate media outreach to select civil society campaigns and networks during the AU summit. This support will include writing press releases, coordinating press activities including press conferences and other media outreach, as well as setting up interviews between journalists and campaign spokespersons.

Interns will be provided with two days of training on the work of the AU and its organs prior to the beginning of their work but will be expected to have a pan-African perspective prior to the internship. Interns will work six days a week in two shifts for the duration of the internship.

Interns will be expected to:
• Attend all pre-summit trainings
• Report twice daily to their supervisor during morning and evening intern meetings
• Produce daily reports from AU and civil society meetings
• Conduct interviews for podcast and print with policymakers and civil society representatives, among others
• Facilitate and coordinate media outreach for civil society campaigns
• Meet strict daily deadlines
• Assist in the editorial and administrative duties of the Daily
• Assist CSO platforms to prepare media advisories and press releases
• Assist CSO platforms to prepare press conferences

Interns can expect to:
• Gain insight and knowledge of the workings of the African Union and its organs
• Gain practical experience of daily reporting
• Grain practical experience of online journalism
• Gain understanding of the pan-African institutions
• Gain exposure to pan-African civil society advocacy and campaigns
• Gain insight and knowledge regarding issues of salience and within the competencies of the African Union and its organs

Interns will be provided with a small daily stipend to cover their per diem expenses while in Addis Ababa. For interns coming from outside of Ethiopia, accommodation will be provided.

Limited funding for travel to/from Addis Ababa is available.

Stella Chege, Programme Manager, Kenya Mobile: +254 725 721 623email: [email protected]
skype: ciruchegeh