Are you a mid-career journalist with an interest in China? Apply for the 2020 Australia-China Media Exchange and you could gain a deeper understanding of one of Australia’s most important strategic partners. The exchange is a brilliant opportunity for two driven Australia journalists to gain an awareness and understanding of China, build networks, generate story ideas, and learn more about the Chinese media landscape. Applications close at 5.00pm, Thursday December 12.
As well as a program of meetings and briefings tailored to the selected journalists’ areas of expertise, there will be an opportunity to exchange views on new media challenges with Chinese journalists, and to visit cultural sites during the trip, which is expected to take in up to three Chinese cities. On the exchange, you will be joined by two-time Gold Walkley-winning journalist Hedley Thomas.
Successful applicants will have their airfares, accommodation and transfers covered, and will be uniquely placed to bring Chinese stories to Australia.
The exchange will run from Saturday, February 15, 2020 to Sunday, February 23, 2020.
Eligibility
In 2020 we are looking for two Australian journalists with at least seven years’ reporting experience and with an interest in China. We welcome applicants from all media platforms, formats and organisations.
How to apply
Email barbara.blackman@walkleys.com with the requirements listed below by 5.00pm Thursday, December 12, 2019.
Applicants must include:
- A cover letter (up to 500 words) outlining why you should be selected for the 2020 Australia-China Media Exchange. Please include ideas of how you’d share your experience: five-story ideas (including where they would run) and how you might document your trip using social media.
- 200-word bio
- Brief CV
- Headshot
About the program
The 2020 Australian-Media Exchange is organised by the Walkley Foundation, supported by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Notes from past exchanges
Australia-China Media Exchange
2018 program
In April 2018 the Walkley Foundation and the Australian Embassy in Beijing, together with the All China Journalists Association, presented a series of journalism masterclasses led by three Walkley-winning journalists. The group spent a week traveling across three mainland cities, visiting leading Chinese media organisations and engaging with students of journalism and Australian studies in some of China’s top universities.
“Accompanied by The Australian’s Chip Le Grand, whose book The Straight Dope won the 2016 Walkley Book Award; the ABC’s Rachael Brown, whose Walkley-winning Trace podcast had more than 2.2 million downloads; and Gold Walkey-winning freelance photojournalist Andrew Quilty, who is based in Afghanistan, I set off for the People’s Republic.”
Read Helen Sullivan’s dispatch from the 2018 Australia-China Media Exchange program here.
Professor Liu Chang, Rachael Brown, Andrew Quilty and Chip Le Grand with students at Beijing’s Communications University.
2016 program
In partnership with the Australia-China Council, the Australian Embassy in Beijing and the All China Journalists Association, the Walkley Foundation will run a series of university masterclasses and public speaking engagements this November in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
Walkley Award-winning journalists Trent Dalton (The Weekend Australian Magazine), Caro Meldrum-Hanna (Four Corners, ABC) and Steve Pennells (Seven and The West Australian) will run masterclasses at leading universities across China facilitating an ongoing exchange of ideas and expertise. The Australian journalists will also meet with recent graduates and partake in public events with The Beijing Bookworm festival and AustCham in Shanghai.
“The Walkley awards have been bench marking excellence in journalism since 1956. We are incredibly proud to share the stories with china’s next generation of storytellers and journalists in China with three Walkley-winning journalists. And we look forward to learning more about China and building lasting relations with the journalism community there.” Jacqui Park – Walkley Foundation CEO
Past exchange participants:
2016
- Trent Dalton, The Weekend Australian Magazine
- Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Four Corners, ABC
- Steve Pennells, Seven and The West Australian
2018
- Rachael Brown, ABC
- Andrew Quilty, freelance photojournalist
- Chip Le Grand, The Australian