Viewfinder 2022 Accountability Journalism Fellowship

Are you a mid-career journalist who wants to take your reporting on topical, public interest issues in South Africa to new heights? Viewfinder is offering a fellowship for reporters to investigate and then produce impact-driven journalism on accountability failures in the country. 

We are particularly interested in exposing abuses of power or inexcusable failures by large institutions that negatively affect marginalised people or communities. The fellowship and our editorial support will enable you to investigate, research and develop your proposed reporting project. During the second half of the fellowship period, we will work with you to produce a short film or broadcast segment and a long-form written exposé rooted in your reporting and findings.

Fellowship conditions

• Remuneration: R40,000 to conduct your investigation and to work with the Viewfinder team on journalistic production.
• Duration: Two months, part time, starting on 1 October 2022.
• Deliverables: Collate interviews, research and source material into an investigative file (month one). Render your investigation as an investigative television broadcast segment and a long-form written exposé (month two).
• Expert investigative, editorial and production support will be on offer throughout the fellowship period.
• Eligibility: Open to South African citizens or foreign nationals with permission to work here. Applicants should be skilled, mid-career journalists. Preference will be given to black applicants.
• Both freelance and employed journalists are invited to reply. The latter must seek permission from their editors. For permanently employed journalists, co-publication of their investigation with their home newsrooms can be negotiated.

How to pitch us

Story pitches should incorporate: a compelling hypothesis or finding of wrongdoing against a clear target (we usually conceive of this as an abuse of power or failure by an institution that has hurt the interests of a poor or marginalised group of people); a strong case study, which will demonstrate the human impact of the wrongdoing that your reporting seeks to expose; and a short explanation containing key facts that will help us to understand the background and importance of your proposed investigation.

Choosing a topic on which you already have some knowledge – and for which you care deeply about – will stand the best chance of resulting in a successful pitch.

You can read and watch some of our previous work at viewfinder.org.za.

Submission form: https://airtable.com/shrcFRYcxaOAEBf2q

Deadline: 23 September 2022

We are here to help you

If you would like more information about what a successful pitch might entail, or if you want to soundboard your story idea before submitting your pitch, we recommend that you schedule a 20-minute session with Viewfinder’s operations manager Theresa Mallinson in the week before the deadline. Email Theresa on [email protected].