Call for Applications: The Weather Eye Award for Local Reporting
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We are no longer accepting applications.
Overview
The Weather Eye Award at New America is an opportunity for local reporters to write for a national audience about disaster resilience in their community. Our goal is to promote writers who already have the experience and desire to write about local resilience to severe weather, but who would benefit from having a broader platform and financial support to continue this important work.
After a difficult year of severe weather in the US, the time is ripe for the country to reflect on our present preparedness for natural disasters and to look forward at what we can do better. We believe the best way to do so is to promote local voices that report on their region’s specific circumstances and vulnerabilities to natural disasters, as well as investments in infrastructure, preparedness, social networks, and other resilience measures.
The selected reporters will be responsible for writing four articles over the course of a 12 month period that we will publish on the New America website (or other platforms, if possible, including with our national media partners). The article topics can encompass many issue areas that are not inherently weather-related but play an important role in resilience, including local political, economic, and social issues facing the area and how they interact with resilience to the weather. In fact, we welcome complex, multi-sectoral analysis.
We will award the selected reporters a $10,000 financial stipend, given in two installments, which will supplement the incomes they already receive from their current jobs. As such, the expectation is that the awardees should continue their existing professional commitments during the 12 month award period. Further, our hope is that the research and writing for the award will also contribute to the current work of the reporter at their respective media organization, and vice versa.
We are currently looking for local reporters who live and work in the following nine states the Weather Eye project has focused on: Massachusetts, Maine, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, North Dakota, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Florida.
Who Should Apply
The ideal candidates will be reporters at a local news outlet – think Tulsa World, rather than the New York Times – who can show a professional interest in reporting on weather, natural disasters, or local resilience. They must be well published and be able to show their ability to write in-depth reports.
Freelance writers will be considered on a case by case basis, but they must live in the area they wish to report on and show that they have published writing, preferably in a local, credible news organization.
We also encourage reporters to apply even if they do not view themselves as a “weather expert.” We do not require professional meteorological credentials , as long as you have an interest and some experience in the topic or related local concerns. We also welcome reporters who primarily write on social or political issues, but would like to write about these topics through the lens of weather resiliency.
How to Apply
All interested candidates should submit an application by midnight on Thursday, February 15, 2018.
Each applicant must include:
Resume
Statement of Interest (Why you? Why your town?), no more than 300 words
Links to 2 to 3 published articles, preferably related to weather or resiliency
Optional: One additional writing sample, not necessarily published
For any questions, please email weathereye@newamerica.org. We look forward to reading your applications.