This is an opportunity provided by the Reporting Climate Change programme: Find out more
Mentoring and Story Grants: Reporting the Energy Transition in Southeast Asia
In June 2019, Thomson Reuters Foundation collaborated with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security’s Journalism and Media program to hold a three-day training in Bangkok, Thailand for journalists and editors who are covering energy transition issues in Southeast Asia. The "Reporting the Energy Transition in Southeast Asia" training was designed to strengthen knowledge and skills needed to report effectively on the region’s transition to clean energy as economies decarbonize to meet national and global clean energy targets.
As a follow-up to this training, Thomson Reuters Foundation will provide mentoring support and a number of small story grants to journalists and editors who completed the training in Bangkok and would like additional support to pursue reporting related to the training’s themes.
To be considered for this opportunity, participants of the Bangkok training must submit an application that includes a story proposal and budget. Story proposals should relate in some way to the transition to clean energy in Southeast Asia or South Korea and explore issues concerning clean energy development, innovations, challenges, or opportunities, especially in the context of national, regional, or global efforts to address climate change.
As discussed during the training, there are many different ways to tell a clean energy story. Journalists focused on business, energy, the economy, or politics can approach these stories in different ways than those who specialize in covering the environment or climate change.
What stories are under-reported in the region? What changes and opportunities from the low carbon energy transition have you seen in your country or in other countries in Southeast Asia that your audience may be unfamiliar with? What questions need to be asked about clean energy economies and the new geo-political dynamics that could emerge as this transition unfolds?
Story themes that could be explored include (but are not limited to):
• decentralization and expansion of (clean) energy access
• clean energy opportunities or innovations that are underway or on the horizon (digitalization, energy efficiency, storage, robotics/automation, etc.)
• regional trends in energy demand and infrastructure
• investment, job creation, and clean energy development in Southeast Asia or in specific countries in the region
• “tech leapfrog” to clean energy systems
• electric vehicles and public transportation
• international competitiveness and geopolitics
Candidates can apply individually or as a team with other participants from the Bangkok training (for example, for a cross-border proposal).
Mentoring and story grants will be awarded to a limited number of applicants based on the quality and viability of their proposals.
Deadline for applications: 4 March 2020
Selection of story proposals: 10 March 2020
Candidates must commit to completing their story by the end of April 2020, with an aim for publication before the end of April or early May.
Mentoring and story grants will be administered by Thomson Reuters Foundation, with funding support from the European Climate Foundation.
Beyond this opportunity, Thomson Reuters Foundation and its partner for the Bangkok training, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, aim to continue building engaged and active cross-border networks of journalists covering energy transition issues in Southeast Asia.
If you are interested in this programme, but are not eligible to apply, please email to trfmedia@thomsonreuters.com to register your interest and we will consider you for future programmes.