Global Journalism Silverstone Fellowship

at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Polis is delighted to announce that we have selected the first Polis Silverstone Scholar. This award is for an international journalist studying an aspect of global journalism. The recipient will contribute to the work of Polis and publish a short paper based on their work. They will also contribute to teaching and other Polis activities including the Polis Summer School.

The recipient, Nina Bigalke, is conducting a research project on the new international news channel Al Jazeera English. She will be examining its production methods and editorial policies and investigating the role of channels like AJE in the changing global communications culture. Next year Nina will be contributing to a public Polis seminar on Al Jazeera English, details of which will follow in the New Year.

The Silverstone scholarship was founded in the memory of the late Professor Roger Silverstone, Head of the Media and Communications Department at LSE and the moving spirit behind the creation of Polis. His last book 'Media and Morality: On The Rise Of The Mediapolis' is a call for a better understanding of the importance of global news.

We will be reopening applications for 2008/09 later on in the year. Applicants are invited and will be expected to conduct research into international journalism. The successful applicant will have a strong aptitude for high quality research and meet the criteria for ‘excellence in Global Journalism’.

We aim to attract a foreign journalist based in London who will draw on his or her own expertise, supplemented by research and interviews, to produce a substantial report for POLIS. The report will be accompanied by a public event featuring the Fellow, who is also expected to give an open lecture at LSE and contribute teaching – where appropriate – to an option course in the Department and/or the POLIS Summer School.

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