The Fourth Media Fellowship was a one month fellowship held between November 15, 2004 and December 15, 2004. The fellowship offered journalists from print and other media an opportunity to travel, research and write on the survival and livelihoods issues in the seven states of north eastern India – each with its unique problems and triumphs.

India’s north-east – largely neglected by mainstream media – is a veritable cauldron of lifestyles, issues, practices and contentions. Immensely rich in terms of natural resources and biodiversity, the region offers possibilities of exhaustive research on how the people have (or have not) used these resources to survive through the ages. While most traditional livelihoods and sustainable development models in the region are fighting against annihilation with their backs to the wall, there are those that have withstood the ravages. Novel survival and livelihood strategies have also emerged in response to new challenges.

Through a range of ‘Suggested Areas of Focus’, the fellowship attempted to raise and – eventually – answer some critical questions: what makes the north east different from the rest of India? What makes the seven states different from each other? How do the people live in these regions, with little development and hence little livelihood opportunities? How does the resource rich region sustain itself? Have the people found an alternative means of livelihood that is sustainable? What has been the relation between the state and the people in terms of resource sharing? The suggested areas of focus were:

• Traditional medicine and its practice
• Customary and traditional laws and their impact on community forest management (CFM) and joint forest management (JFM)
• Floods and watershed management
• Women, livelihoods and governance
• Conservation as a livelihood
• Agricultural transition: from non-cash crops to cash crops
• Economic liberalisation and its impacts on livelihoods
• Livelihood strategies linked to biodiversity

Moreover, issues in north east are seldom covered in the ‘mainstream’ press; it is confined to the pages in the region or the occasional supplement on the region. Except of course the insurgency stories. Hence the fellowship was an excellent opportunity for people outside the region to observe, understand and report in-depth on the region.

The application procedure and funding

The fourth media fellowships did not see may changes and followed the steps laid down in the third fellowship.

Applications were invited form journalists in July-August 2004 through an advertisement in Down to Earth, posters in English, letters written to editors throughout the country, and e-mailers sent to all media contacts. The last date for application was kept as August 31, 2004. Freelancers and visual media professionals were also encouraged to apply.

Selected fellows were expected to generate and publish articles totalling 5,000 words or more. Rs 40,000 was earmarked for each candidate as support for research, travel and writing. Of this, Rs 15,000 was paid at the start of the fellowships and the rest, upon completion.

Eligibility Requirements

Selected candidates were required to take a one-month leave from their current employment to work on the fellowship. Applications for the fellowship, accompanied by the following documents, were accepted:

• Curriculum vitae
• Three samples of published work on development issues (those writing in regional languages must have at least one of their articles translated into English)
• Proof of leave taken (and granted) – of at least 30 days – for pursuing the fellowship
• A letter of support from the editor that the output under the fellowship will be published (mandatory for all candidates, including freelancers)
• A succinct write-up discussing story ideas, travel plans and a list of people to be interviewed.

Profile of applicants

Between the last week of July and August 31, 2004, we received 49 complete applications from experienced journalists, cub reporter and freelancers. Journalists from Bangladesh and one from Indonesia too were interested. The following chart shows a state wise break up and other figures related top these applications:

The Selection procedure

After the closing date of the applications, an internal jury short-listed 26 candidates for final selection. The MRC prepared dossiers of the short listed candidates, containing their CVs, work proposals, a map demarcating her/his proposed area of study, samples of published work and recommendations, and a complete tracking sheet of all the 26 candidates.

An external jury, of experts in the field, was invited and the dossiers presented to them for their perusal. The jury members were:

• Mr Sanjoy Hazarika, Managing Trustee of the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research. He is also the consulting editor with the Statesman, where he edits and publishes the North East page every Saturday. His work on migration and self-governance is highly regarded.
• Dr P S Ramakrishnan, Professor of Ecology at the School of Environment Sciences, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a well known figure in the field of environmental sciences, and is an expert on northeastern ecological practices and agriculture.
• Dr Roshmi Goswami, programme officer for sexuality, reproductive health and human rights, Ford Foundation, New Delhi. She has worked extensively on gender related issues, reproductive health and women in armed conflict situations. She is also the founding member of the Northeast network.
• Dr Monisha Behal, director programmes, Northeast Netwok, New Delhi. Dr Behal, a social activist, has a deep interest in women's issues. She has undertaken extensive work in the north-east region in capacity building of smaller NGOs. She undertakes training and education of NGOs in the areas of women's health, crafts production, communication and accounts.
• Ms Vichitra Sharma, formerly with the Press Institute of India and the European Commission, she now freelances. She started the magazine, Grassroots, published by the Press Institute of India.

The external jury met for the final selection on October 20, 2004. The parameters for assessing the candidates included originality of ideas; grasp of issues covered; relevance of the issues covered; range of the issues covered; analytical skills; writing skills; and initiative. The jury was requested to finalise the selection of journalists for the fellowship, enrich proposed story ideas with fresh perspectives and suggest ways to make future fellowships more challenging and meaningful.

From the short-listed 26, the jury selected the 4 most promising candidates for awarding the fellowship grant. Extensive modifications were suggested by the jury in the work proposals of almost all the candidates. In the days that followed, MRC informed the candidates of their selection, conveyed the jury’s suggestions to them and received their consent on these modifications.

This fellowship saw just four fellowships being granted. This was mainly because of the average proposals received. The jury agreed to giver lesser fellowships instead of approving inadequate proposals.

Conduct of the fellowship

Like the third fellowship, the fourth fellowship was also conducted and monitored online. A weekly communication schedule was drawn up for candidates, and they were asked to file weekly reports according to the schedule.

Comprehensive and customized briefing documents were prepared for each candidate and couriered to her/him prior to the commencement of the fellowship. The fellows were also given the contact details of the jury members who could guide them during the fellowship. Throughout the course of the fellowship, MRC also kept the candidates updated with the latest information and news relevant to their individual topics of study.

All the candidates stayed in touch with MRC on a weekly basis as required. Following the completion of the programme, each candidate submitted a comprehensive file of her/his fellowship results. The file contained the original clippings of published stories, original drafts of the stories submitted for publication, a complete set of pictures taken during the course of the fellowship, a list of contacts and responses to a feedback questionnaire.

Impact of the Fellowship

Individually, the fellowship exposed each candidate to a vital area of concern. It brought them face-to-face with the entire gamut of issues related to north east, and helped them understand the complexities of the region. Many of them realised the enormity of the issue for the first time, and have felt encouraged to keep writing on it.

Some of the reports generated by Assam Tribune’s Sivasish Thakur have reportedly been noted by both the forest department and the Bodoland Autonomous Territorial District, especially the ones on the security of the Manas National Park. While some stories by Anil Yadav, freelancer with Rashtriya Sahara, provided readers in other parts of the country an opportunity to read about the biodiversity of the region and the illegal trade of medicinal plants. This was other than the usual insurgency and flood stories that appear in the newspapers.

Please go to ‘The Fellows and their Work’ for the profiles of individual Fellows, their work and experiences, and their reactions to the fellowship programme.