Dear friends,
These are challenging times: political violence, terrorism, disaster and civil conflict across the globe put exceptional pressure on journalists to get the story right. And direct attacks on the press have made our jobs all the more dangerous.
Nearly two decades ago, the Dart Center launched the annual Ochberg Fellowship to equip news professionals with in-depth knowledge and specialized skills to report ethically and effectively on violence and its aftermath. Nineteen years and 170 Fellows later, this powerful program has nurtured leaders and innovators in trauma reporting around the world.
We will be offering this unique opportunity again to 12 journalists from around the world, January 15-20, 2018 at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York City. The deadline for applications is Friday, September 22, 2017.
The Fellowship is designed for senior and mid-career journalists who wish to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and psychological injury and improve reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy. Fellows attend a week-long seminar which includes briefings by leading experts in the trauma field, in-depth discussions with journalist colleagues and other opportunities for learning and reflection. The Fellowship is named in honor of psychiatrist Frank Ochberg, M.D., a pioneer in trauma study and the Center’s founding chairman.
Print, broadcast and digital reporters, photographers, editors and producers with at least five years of professional journalism experience are eligible to apply. The full guidelines and online application can be found here.
Past Ochberg Fellows have described the week as a high point in their careers.
“Everyone seemed keen to share their experiences and concerns, however painful. It was incredibly inspiring to be among senior journalists who give serious thought to the impact of their work, well beyond the deadlines and competitiveness which are our daily reality.”
– Alex Duval Smith, Freelance foreign correspondent
”It was enriching beyond measure to share a week with a group so diverse in background and experience yet all wishing to understand how we are shaped by the events we cover. It was a week that challenged our intellects and liberated our emotions beyond anything I had ever experienced.”
– Javier Garza, Imagen Laguna news editor
“Since the Ochberg Fellowship, my writing has become clearer, with fewer clichés and more telling details, and my story selection has moved away from heart-wrenching but ultimately empty narratives and towards holding the government accountable for its failures to care for those who served.”
– Aaron Glantz, Reveal investigative reporter
