Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship (CAMFF)

The Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship is closed for applications for the 2023/24 academic year.

The Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship (CAMFF) is aimed at mid-senior level African professionals with demonstrable leadership skills in their fields, which may include public servants working in areas of media policy and regulatory frameworks, or media professionals such as journalists.  Selected fellows will be from the following Sub-Sahara African countries: Ethiopia, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

The fellowship is hosted by the University of Westminster.

This fellowship is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Course/programme structure

Fellows will undertake a bespoke 8-week fellowship programme titled ‘Media freedom in an age of misinformation’.  The programme will combine professional development of the values of good journalism (curiosity, rigour, challenge, storytelling, research, doing no harm, and freedom of speech) with an understanding of new opportunities to make reporting more effective and to use new ways to enhance its reach and impact.

This programme will bring together 12 leading media and information practitioners and regulators from 9 countries. The course is designed to promote a lively exchange of ideas and experience, and constructive learning between participants and course leaders. It includes both seminars and speaker talks, off-site visits and fieldwork. Fellows will be challenged to debate key policy issues, understanding international and UK positions, and participate in discussions on the ethics of reporting.

Participants will be expected to participate in individual and group coursework projects, take an active role in their professional and career development, and engage keenly throughout the programme and as part of the network.

The curriculum focuses on the ways in which the media are held to account, and the wider context within which political institutions operate. The ethics of reporting are at the heart of all debates.

Fellows will participate in 8 intensive weeks of lectures, visits, and discussions that introduce them to key UK academics, media, and political figures in the field, followed by two weeks of fieldwork research and professional practice. This will culminate in an interactive day of news events focused on Africa and the UK.

Benefits

Each fellowship includes:

• Full programme fees
• Living expenses for the duration of the fellowship
• Return economy airfare from your country of residence to the UK

Eligibility 

To be eligible for a Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship (CAMFF), you must:

• Be a citizen of Ethiopia, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
• Return to your country of citizenship at the end of the period of the fellowship
• Have a postgraduate level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application
• Have at least seven years’ work experience prior to applying
• Be a mid-senior level African professionals with demonstrable leadership skills in fields which may include public servants working in areas of media policy and regulatory frameworks, or media professionals such as journalists
• Have a good working knowledge of English to be assessed in your application form and if you are invited to interview
• Not hold British or dual-British citizenship
• Agree to adhere to all relevant guidelines and expectations of the fellowship
• Not be an employee, a former employee, or relative of an employee of His Majesty’s Government, or have been within the last two years from the opening of Chevening applications (including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, all British Embassies/High Commissions, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade and the UKVI), the British Council, a sponsoring UK university, or a staff member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.