FROM THE EDITORâS DESK
WorldWise readersâ
Much of the narrative that flows in front of our eyes is shaped and gatekept by editors, publications, and business imperatives. Their work stays in the background but holds real power not only over which ideas and stories see the light of day, but how those stories are told.
Editorial choices come with filters, blind spots and motivations that arenât obvious. The best challenge themselves and their own biasesâbut donât count on it being the norm.
Writers and storytellers are often in a position of having to yield to that power. That doesnât mean they always should. Itâs important to reserve a right to hold the line when itâs called for, and even to walk away. Itâs important to remember the power of what creators do.
Anita
INSIDER | views & experience
The train of thought made an unexpected stop.
If youâre a regular reader, you may have noticed that lately Iâve been preoccupied with how we can navigate the breaking of norms and respect for human rights that have lent some stability to this world for the past decades (if youâre not a regular reader, catch up here and here).
At the same time, deadlines are real and Iâve been getting on with my projects. While plugging away Iâd catch the occasional, almost surreal conversation in journalist networksâcolleagues sharing tips about avoiding unnecessary travel and protecting ourselves from surveillance.
It all got me dwelling on writing as a profession, and how it fits into this picture. Somehow, the trail or those thoughts kept leading to imagery from The Lives of Others, a 2006 film that won several awards at the time, including the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Itâs a bit hazy at this point, so I had to look it up to remind myself of the story, which is essentially about East Germanyâs secret police monitoring a playwright and his actress girlfriend in East Berlin.
Two plot details resonated with my memory. One is the sense of action unfolding in a small, modest apartment that the film makes us feel is eerily far from a private, safe haven. The other is the image of a typewriter which at some point in the story has to be hidden under the floorboards. All East German typewriters had to be registered with the authorities so they could be identified. The playwright had published an anonymous article accusing said authorities of concealing elevated suicide rates; and so, the registered typewriter became a key to revealing this dangerous piece of authorship. It was vital that it disappeared.
At the time, as much as the film struck me, I remember feeling how it all seemed just so unreal, far removed from any reality Iâve known. I can say that no more.
Writing.
It seems so innocent, the solitary typing of words on a page. A whole universe of them has been unleashed in front of our eyes since the advent of the printing press, and even more now through the virtual pressâeverything everywhere all at once. Can words on a page really, still, hold any real power?
The answer is probably measured by the words suppressed, rather than those flowing into the world undisturbed. Thereâs a long history of writers persecuted for their workâread PENâs list here, and a list by Canadaâs Freedom to Read initiative that goes all the way back to 210BC.
Looking through this list makes it clearer to me that attempts to silence focus our eyes exactly where they need to be; exactly where a truth hurts, or where the doors of our perception can open.
Words, and images, will take the shape you give them. In the end, what really matters is the ideas behind them. And behind that are the people who breathe life into those ideasâwho dare to do so, at a risk, even when they know the shape of the world cannot (yet) hold them.
OPPORTUNITIES | working with the media
grants+funding
ASIA & AFRICA | The non-profit SMEX is accepting applications for its Digital Rights Fund, designed to empower human rights defenders and related groups that need support to continue working in the face of digital threats across West Asia and North Africaâapply now.
đĽ đ§đˇ LAC | The program ConexĂŁo Oceano de Comunicação Ambiental, an initiative of Fundação Grupo BoticĂĄrio de Proteção Ă Natureza, in partnership with UNESCO, is looking for story pitches about ocean conservation and artâsubmit yours by 20 April.
GLOBAL | The Earth Journalism Network is offering Biodiversity Story Grants as part of its Biodiversity Media Initiative to support reporting that highlights under-reported threats to global biodiversity or explore new conservation-based solutionsâdeadline 29 April.
GLOBAL | The Council for the Advancement of Science Reporting is accepting applications from experienced science journalists for the Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award for a significant reporting projectâclosing 30 April.
đĽ GLOBAL | The Inge Morath Award, a grant given to a woman or nonbinary photographer under the age of 30 to support the completion of a long-term documentary project, is open for applicationsâclosing 30 April.
ASIA | Applications are open for the Pulitzer Center Impact Seed Fund to support educational and engagement initiatives in Southeast Asiaâdeadline 30 April.
fellowships+scholarships
AFRICA | Apply for the journalist-in-residence programme at the New South Institute which is designed for storytellers who can bring governance and public policy to life through investigative research, sharp analysis, and compelling narrativesâclosing 11 April.
GLOBAL | ICFJ and News Corp are accepting applications from international journalists for the 2025 News Corp Media Fellowship for Digital Innovationâdeadline extended to 15 April.
GLOBAL | The International Womenâs Media Foundation has opened applications for the 2026 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. The programme includes six months working with The Boston Globe and The New York Times and an educational stay at MIT's Center for International Studiesâopen until 20 April.
GLOBAL | Applications are open for the NYU Stern Climate Economics Journalism Fellowshipâapply by 20 April.
GLOBAL | The Dag HammarskjĂśld Scholarship Fund for Journalists is accepting applications from journalists from the developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean to cover deliberations of the UN General Assembly for around 10-12 weeks beginning in Septemberâdeadline 26 April.
training+events
GLOBAL | The Pulitzer Center is hosting a webinar for journalists interested in uncovering the realities of Africaâs carbon marketâregister for the 15 April online session.
đŞđ¸ LAC | The Solutions Journalism Network is hosting the workshop "Solutions journalism for climate stories with a gender perspective: Experiences from Latin America" which will take place on 29 and 30 April and be led by the editor of Climate Tracker Latin Americaâdeadline 20 April.
GLOBAL | Submissions for proposals are open for the World Conference of Science Journalists, which will take place in Pretoria, South Africa in early Decemberâdeadline 21 April.
LAC | The Panter Foundation of the German daily newspaper taz is offering a free networking and training workshop focused on climate journalism for journalists from the Amazon region before the UN Climate Change Conference COP 30 in BelĂŠm, Brazilâapply by 22 April.
Opportunity Highlight
đĽ GLOBAL | The Global Peace Photo Award is inviting photographers to submit work expressing the idea that our future lies in peaceful coexistence. The award recognises and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our livesâdeadline 18 May.
awards+competitions
đĽ GLOBAL | Submit your audio work, podcast and radio features to the Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition to win a prizeâdeadline extended to 17 April.
GLOBAL | The International Press Institute and International Media Support are seeking nominations for the World Press Freedom Hero Award and the Free Media Pioneer Awardâclosing 30 April.
GLOBAL | The Online News Association is accepting entries for its 2025 Online Journalism Awards, which recognise excellence in digital reportingâclosing 15 May.
pitches+positions
GLOBAL | RMIT Universityâs nonfiction/lab, in partnership with Mekong Review, is seeking to commission a new series of short literary works or criticism, including non-fiction and book reviews, for publication in forthcoming issues of the international publicationâdeadline 17 April.
GLOBAL | Bellingcat is looking for wildlife and environment related pitches grounded in open source methods and toolsâpitch now.
GLOBAL | Current Conservation, a non-profit print and online magazine, is looking for pitches from writers and photographers interested in conservation researchâpitch now.
GLOBAL | Quanta Books is inviting submissions from scientists, mathematicians, and journalists, including first-time authorsâpitch now.
AFRICA | TechCabal, a publication dedicated to covering Africaâs vibrant technology industry, is looking for reporting and stories that drive understanding of how innovation is shaping the economies, policies, and everyday lives of Africansâpitch now.
ASIA | Foreign Policy is looking for a writer on a contract basis, to take over a new weekly newsletter on Southeast Asiaâapply now.
đ More opportunities are available to paid subscribers here (a gift subscription is available). We currently have a total of 40 opportunities listed with deadlines through to June.
resources+tools
Keep things simple and cut the blame: five lessons from Christiana Figueres on covering climate change - Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
6 tools to take your data visualizations to the next level - International Journalists' Network
An Editorâs Eye View to Successful Pitching - SEJ
Tipsheet: How Journalists Can Use a UN Process to Evaluate National Human Rights Records â Global Investigative Journalism Network
10 tips for covering legislative bodies - International Journalists' Network
đ¸ YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS
This newsletter is the product of years of experience across sectors, plus hours of reading, curation and writing. If you find it useful and have the means, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just ÂŁ1.5 a week to help keep it sustainable and free for all. In addition to full archive access, youâll get:
đ Bonus content on media engagementâexclusive access to our master list of global opportunities
đ Bonus content on global affairsâexclusive access to curated coverage on trending issues
đ DMs open on Fridaysâa direct line where Iâll be happy to answer your questions
As always, a big thank you to those of you who continue to support the project.
PLUS | in other editions
UPDATE | from the network
News organisations are starting to embrace creator-model journalists as collaborators rather than competitors, Klaudia JaĹşwiĹska reports for Columbia Journalism Review. The Pulitzer Center has announced the 2025 cohort of its Rainforest Investigations Network fellows, who tackle stories at the intersection of climate change, corruption, and governance in the worldâs three main tropical rainforest regions: Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia. The Global Investigative Journalism Network interviews Hyury Potter, a Brazilian freelance reporter who recently won the Pulitzer Centerâs Breakthrough Journalism Award.
In Oxfamâs From Poverty to Power blog, Duncan Green explores the future of aid and what next-gen jobs might look like in the sector. Applications are open for the Innovate for Impact Challenge, a global competition by the World Food Prize Foundation and Americaâs Cultivation Corridor, which is looking to support emerging agricultural technologies that could leave a lasting impact on communities worldwideâand thereâs still time to make a nomination for the 2026 World Food Prize Laureate.
PS.
Thank you.
WorldWise is read across 69 countriesâit remains independent thanks to the support of subscribers like you, and to the rest of my nomadic work-life. Sign up | Browse archive | Sponsor an issue
Created and edited by Anita Makriâjournalist/writer, producer and editorial adviser covering global development and science in society. I also help selected organisations with compatible values to strengthen their media work. LinkedIn | Instagram | Email