The pilot project focuses on the interface between digital innovation and citizen participation. It is aimed at traditional journalists and content creators who publish their material on social media and online platforms. The response was overwhelming, with 800 people applying for the Fellowship in April 2022.
When selecting Fellows, the initiators were keen to ensure balanced representation. The 15 successful applicants, nine of them women, come from 12 African states, and the six main AU working languages are represented. They work for well-known African and international media outlets, have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, and are media professionals with innovative ideas from and for Africa. What does the Fellowship offer them?
Inspiration from research work in Africa and Germany
Study trips took the Fellows to Bonn and Berlin, as well as to Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Cape Town. They were effective ambassadors of (pan)African views at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Europe’s largest media conference. In Berlin they engaged in discussions with a number of parliamentarians from the German Bundestag, with topics including the work of the parliamentary Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs. In the WELT newsroom, Fellows experienced firsthand the work of Europe’s biggest publishing network.