SEAPA | Southeast Asian Press Alliance

About the Program

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is sponsoring a SEAPA Fellows Program in Southeast Asian Journalism which will bring mid-career journalists from Asian countries together for the purpose of pursuing in-depth investigative reporting projects and increasing interaction among media professionals in the region.

It has generally been the case that prestigious fellowship programs have taken journalists from Asia to Western institutions for fellowships like the Nieman program at Harvard and the Knight fellowships at Stanford University. While these programs are doubtless excellent, as the free press matures and grows in Asia, SEAPA, which is an alliance of press advocacy organizations, wishes to encourage journalists to pursue a fellowship program within the region.

The program, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, is intended to deepen understanding among journalists in Southeast Asia while exposing regional readers and viewers to in-depth reportage produced within the region. The benefits for the journalists themselves are obvious in that they will gain greater access to their peers while pursuing difficult stories either in a neighboring country or, in some cases, in their own countries. The fellows’ home media organizations, many of which are financially strapped even in the best of times, will have the benefit of being able to produce an in-depth story of wide interest at no cost to themselves, save the time away from the home office of the fellow. The fact that a significant story will result from the fellowship is a powerful incentive to the home organizations to allow one of their staff members to participate. In addition, the fellowship is expected to bring wide recognition to both the journalist/fellow and his or her employer.