The Geneva Health Files Fellowship 2025
Editorial Update
Dear Readers,
I am pleased to share with you an announcement for our annual fellowship programme where writers and global health experts lend their interest, skills and time to work with us.
Please find the call for applications below, and consider sharing with your networks, as relevant, among those who may be interested in global health journalism and/or media entrepreneurship.
We have the run the fellowship programme since 2021, and it has been a treasured experience in getting to work with experts from many parts of the world who get an opportunity to see how critical journalism is crafted in the capital of global health.
Thank you for your engagement.
Until later,
Priti Patnaik
Founding Editor, Geneva Health Files
Feel free to write to us: genevahealthfiles@gmail.com
Find us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/genevahealthfiles.bsky.social
Volunteer Opportunity in Global Health Journalism: Geneva Health Files
Geneva Health Files is an inter-disciplinary journalistic initiative that reports on power and politics from the capital of global health. Our small, but influential news operation is looking for interested experts and writers, and/or students, who can report on global health, and also help us build this initiative.
This is an opportunity to work with a trusted and contemporary newsroom, and gain hands-on experience in learning how global health journalism is crafted in Geneva. It is a great opportunity to not only write about global health more critically, but to also be a part of an exciting initiative in media entrepreneurship.
We are looking to work with candidates who may be interested in helping us achieve two key and distinct objectives:
• Reporting and research activities: These could include working on specific reporting projects, attending webinars, briefings, conducting research and analyses, and helping with certain aspects of the production process.
• Supporting our business development activities: These tasks include helping us with business strategy, marketing and communications, fundraising, designing materials, promoting online presence and building on our brand.
This requires consistent and regular commitment of 5-10 hours per week. This is being offered only as a volunteer position in light of existing budget constraints. Students can also apply for internship grants from other sources in order to make this opportunity viable. (Exceptionally, we would consider paying a modest fee on a per story or a per-task basis depending on the output.)
About our work: Geneva Health Files reports on global health governance in Geneva by looking at the field through the lens of politics, science, law, and trade. We are read by more than 6,000 readers in 150 countries. Our in-depth stories seek to go beyond the headlines and capture the important nuances at a time when global health policy-making is being remade in Geneva.
This initiative writes for its readers who are experts in the global health field including diplomats, policymakers, academics, activists and lobbyists. We follow the discussions and negotiations that become headlines.
Fellowship Application
If interested, please send a formal cover letter (~500 words) on why you are interested in the position and what you hope to gain from working with Geneva Health Files. Also send us your CV with a cover letter in a single document before March 25, 2025. Write to Priti Patnaik, Founding Editor, Geneva Health Files: Patnaik.reporting@gmail.com with the subject line clearly indicating application for the fellowship.
It is important you explain in your cover letter why you are interested in global health journalism specifically. We want you to tell us why you want to work with Geneva Health Files. It is not enough to be knowledgeable about global health, and/ or journalism. We need to see specific skills and demonstrated interests that will make you a good fit in our niche reporting initiative.
Shortlisted candidates will need to appear for a small writing test, followed by an interview.
Owing to time constraints, we are only able to offer three-five positions this year to do justice to selected fellows.
This fellowship is intended to run from May 1, 2025 – November 1, 2025. This period is also subject to the availability of interested candidates.
If you are affiliated with any of the actors that we report on, during the period of the fellowship, we thank you for your interest, but we will not be able to work with you.
Please apply only if you are certain that you can commit to regular hours on a weekly basis. We invest scarce and valuable time mentoring and supporting our fellows in the midst of a hectic news cycle and a demanding entrepreneurial operation. We simply cannot afford to lose time with candidates who are unsure about their engagement with us.
While we are respectful of our fellows’ on-going commitments, we also need hands-on candidates who are able to work in a fast-paced newsroom that typically operates under tight deadlines.
We look forward to receiving applications. Thank you for your engagement.
DESCRIPTION OF TASKS
We would consider fellows who would be interested specifically in each of these tasks. People who can straddle both these distinct areas are also welcome.
I. Editorial tasks
• Working on specific reporting projects
• Curating news developments
• Listening in on press briefings and webinars (Summarising as necessary)
• Production of occasional podcasts [If the candidate has relevant skills for this.]
II. Tasks around Business Development
• Systematic mapping and reaching out to global health organizations in Geneva
• Working on online and in-person events as necessary
• Targeted outreach of global health academics outside of Geneva
• Working on e-books, and posters as necessary
• Working on grant proposals
• Working on the website
• Illustrations and design
Skills required:
• An understanding of global health and international trade
• An appreciation of the role of journalism in global health
• A good writer with a nose for news (Prior writing & journalistic experience desirable)
• Web skills including content management system, social media
• A basic understanding of the newsletter economy
• Critical thinking and a sense of humor will be a plus
• Fast worker with quick turn-around time under tight deadlines
Outcomes:
• Getting published in Geneva Health Files
• Familiarity with the Geneva Global Health Ecosystem
• Understanding newsletter journalism
• Experience in media entrepreneurship
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