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Call for a Transatlantic Exchange Program for Journalism Students

Schedule & application

Program periodFebruary 2027 to May 2028

Program information

Program duration and audience

📅 Project duration: February 2027 to May 2028.

🎓 Program for journalism master students from Germany and the United States.

Why the program matters

Providing the next generation of journalists with objective information and professional training on the contexts and impacts of international action is becoming increasingly important. Pressure on media systems is growing, disinformation is rampant. Germany and the United States are no exception.

RIAS Berlin Commission’s program fosters the collaboration between journalism students from Germany and the USA on joint projects and aims to promote long-term transatlantic relationships among members of the next generation of media professionals.

Shared projects

Eight American and eight German students will be given the opportunity to work together on projects focused on exploring transatlantic issues such as trade, defense, politics, culture and the future of journalism with themes such as AI, public vs private media, funding, citizen journalism.

A transatlantic jury of journalists will conduct the application interviews with great emphasis on diversity, motivation, and a sustained interest in journalism as a career goal.

Collaboration and outcomes

Participating students will be assigned to transatlantic working groups, which will be mentored by experienced journalists from the pool of RIAS alumni.

Over the course of the collaboration, each group produces at least two journalistic products such as text, audio, video, or data journalism formats of their choice as well as a comparative analysis of a transatlantic media topic.

Workshops

The groups will also prepare their work results for a presentation to their peers during the in-person workshops in Washington, DC (October 03-07, 2027) and in Berlin (May 2028). Travel expenses will be covered by RIAS.

During the workshop weeks, RIAS will also organize meetings for the students with journalists from leading media outlets, as well as visits to newsrooms. Opportunities for exchange with representatives of civil society, think tanks, and politicians will also be scheduled.

Publishing the results

All results of this program will be compiled into a digital project portfolio that includes both the journalistic contributions and the students’ methodological insights, working methods, and key conclusions. RIAS will share their published work with German and American journalism organizations.