2018 German-American
JournalistExchange
“I’ve been privileged to take part in other journalism fellowships, and the RIAS program is in a class by itself.”
DustinStephens CBSSundayMorning
“The RIAS German-American Exchange program was like a college-level course crammed into two fulfilling, challenging and inspiring weeks.” OliviaAllen-Price KQEDPublicMedia
“I know I have made friendships that will last beyond our time in Europe — and that was truly the best part of this Fellowship.” MayaRodriguez KUSATV
PresentedbyRIASBERLINCOMMISSION
andRadioTelevisionDigitalNewsFoundation
TheRIASBERLINCOMMISSIONisabi-nationalorga-nizationestablished in1992tomaintainGerman/Americanunderstandinginthefieldofbroadcastingandtopromotethetransatlantictraditionsymbol-izedbyRIAS(RadiointheAmericanSector)Berlinoverthepast70years.Trans-Atlantictravelandac-commodationcostsarefinancedbytheRIASBER-LINCOMMISSION,anon-profit,non-governmentalorganization. RIAS Berlin is overseen by five Ger-man and five American board members and isbasedinBerlin.
TheRadioTelevisionDigitalNewsFoundationisanon-profitjournalismtraininginstitutionwhichpro-motes excellence in electronic journalism throughresearch, education and professional training. Itsprogramsaresupportedentirelybytax-deductiblecontributions from individuals, corporations andfoundations.ItisaffiliatedwiththeRadioTelevisionDigitalNewsAssociation, an internationalprofes-sionalassociationfoundedin1946toservetheneedsand interestsof theelectronic journalism industryandnewsprofessionals.
RadioTelevisionDigitalNewsFoundation52914thStreetNW,Suite1240
Washington,D.C.20045Phone202-659-6510·Fax202-223-4007
www.rtdnf.org
RIASBERLINCOMMISSIONHans-Rosenthal-Platz,D-10825Berlin
Phone49-30-8503-6971·Fax49-30-8503-6979www.RiasBerlin.de
U.S.JournalistsattheReichstaginBerlin
APPLICATION DEADLINES
ApplicationsmustbereceivedatRTDNFelectroni-cally no later than February 1 for Program I andMay1forProgramII.Ifyouarenotchosentopar-ticipateinProgramI,butwishtobeconsideredforProgramII,itisnotnecessarytosendasecondap-plicationunlessyourposition(e.g.jobtitleorsta-tionatwhichyouwork)haschanged.
Applicantswillbenotifiedoffinaldecisionswithinfourweeksoftheapplicationdeadline.
PleasesendapplicationsfortheGermanstudypro-gramor yourentries for theannualRIASAwards(duebyJanuary15ofeachyear)toboth:
Annette RaveneauRIASBERLINCOMMISSION—D.C.OfficeMobile:[email protected]
and
Erik KirschbaumRIASBERLINCOMMISSION—BerlinOfficeMobile:[email protected]
“The RIAS program is so much more than an introduction into German Journalism. This is a well-oiled immer-sion machine inside European history, politics and world relations. All of it brought together through the vehicle of journalism.”
RyanBergeron CNN
U.S.JournalistsinDresden
2 0 1 8 G E R M A N / A M E R I C A N J O U R N A L I S T E X C H A N G E
OVERVIEW
We at the RIAS BERLIN COMMISSION understandthateventstakingplaceinEurope,AsiaortheMiddleEasttodaycanhaveanimpactonyourcommunityintheUnitedStates.Whetheryouworkforana-tionalnetworkor ina small localmarket, today’sbroadcast and multi-media journalist needs theversatilityandperspectivetointerpretandexplaintheseglobalevents.
Since1994,theRIASBERLINCOMMISSION,inpart-nership with the Radio Television Digital NewsFoundation,hasofferedprogramsandawards toeducate radio, television, and digital journalistsaboutGermanyanditsrelationshipwiththeUnitedStates.Thesethreeprogramsare:
• GermanStudyProgramsforU.S.Journalists• U.S.StudyProgramsforGermanJournalists• RIASAwardsforexceptionalstoriesthatreflect anaspectofGerman/U.S.relations
Even today, as Germany remains cognizant of itspast,itisplayinganincreasinglyactiveandimpor-tantleadershiproleinEuropeandtheworld.Ger-many’srelationshipwithAmericanbusiness is feltinmanycommunitiesacrosstheUnitedStates.AndwithBerlinrestoredastheGermancapital,peoplearedrawntothiscityforthehistory,aswellasthecultureandcutting-edgearts.
Morethan1500AmericanandGermanjournalistshaveparticipated in this unique trans-Atlantic ex-changewhichcontinuestobuildbridgesofunder-standing,professionallyaswellaspersonally.OurAmericanalumnicontinuetoparticipateinthepro-grambyhostingvisitingGermanjournalistsintheirnewsroomseachspringandfall,andbyattendingtheRIASFellowsReunionheldattheannualExcel-lenceinJournalismConventioneachfall.
GERMAN STUDY PROGRAM
If youareanAmerican radio, televisionoronlinejournalistworkingforalocalstationoranationalnet-work,youmayapplyforoneofthestudyprogramsinGermany.FellowswilltraveltoBerlin,andacitysuchasCologneorHamburg,andLeipzig,Erfurt,or Dresden; and also to Brussels, home of NATOandtheEuropeanUnion.
Eachtwo-weekcoreprogrammaybeextendedtotakepartina“stationweek”atanEnglish-languagebroadcaster,suchasDeutscheWelle,orforuptooneweektodoreportingonstoriesforyourhomestation.Applicantsmustbefull-timeworkingradio,televi-sion,ordigitaljournalists.Full-timefreelancejourna-listsmayalsoapply.KnowledgeofGermanishelpful.ThoseacceptedareadvisedtodoasmuchreadingaspossibleaboutGermanpoliticalandsocialissues.
Program IJune11–June22,2018(coreprogram)June23–29,2018(station-week,extensionprogram)ApplicationDeadline:February1,2018
Program II September17–28,2018(coreprogram)September29–October6,2018(station,ext.prog.)ApplicationDeadline:May1,2018
APPLICATION PROCESS
• Acoversheetwithyourname,station,workand homeaddresses,cell,workandhometelephone numbers,e-mail,andTwitterhandle.
• PreferenceforProgramIorII,andpreferencefor thecoreprogramonlyorthecoreprogramplus anextension,withgeneralinformationonwhat youhopetoaccomplishifyouareapprovedfor anextension.
• Aresumeandcurrentjobdescription.
• A letterofreferencefromyournewsdirector (orfromyourgeneralmanagerifyouareanews director)outliningyourstrengthsasacandidate forthisprogram,andthenamesandtelephone numbersoftwootherprofessionalreferences.
• Aone-pageessaywhichaddresseseachofthese threeissues:
1) Whyyouareinterestedintheprogram? 2) Whatyouhopetogainfromparticipating? 3) WhatdoyouknowaboutGermany,itspoli- ticsandhistory? 4) Howparticipationinthisprogramwillbene- fityourstationornewsroomoryourcareer?
AWARDS PROGRAM
Eachspring,theRIASBERLINCOMMISSIONawardsprizesforexcellenceinreportingforradio,televisionanddigitalmediastories.Thereisnofeeforsub-missions,andentriesmustpresentaspectsofGer-man/American relations The RIAS Media Prizeawards’ ceremony is held in Berlin each year,usually in June, and the winners, announced inadvance, are invited to Germany for the galaceremonyatthefamousRIASbroadcastingbuilding
Over the years, there have been many Americanwinners, among them Bill Whitaker and MarcLiebermanofCBS’s“60Minutes”in2017fortheirstory on the German prison system and PaigeSutherland of public radio in New Hampshire forastoryonhowGermanydealssodifferentlywithdrugaddiction.OtherwinnersincludeSusanValotandJoelWaldingerofWisconsinPublicTelevision.
Submissionsaremadeonline,atanytime,thoughthedeadlineforsubmissionsisJanuary15,2018.