LOS ANGELES—LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is seeking applications from qualified arts, lifestyle and/or travel journalists from countries in which Los Angeles has a Sister City for a weeklong, all-expense-paid professional fellowship program to learn first-hand about the city’s abundant culture and diverse communities.
Los Angeles’ Sister Cities are: Athens, Greece; Auckland, New Zealand; Beirut, Lebanon; Berlin, Germany; Bordeaux, France; Busan, Korea; Eilat, Israel; Giza, Egypt; Guangzhou (formerly Canton), People's Republic of China; Ischia, Italy; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kaunas, Lithuania; Lusaka, Zambia; Makati, Philippines; Mexico City, Mexico; Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India; Nagoya, Japan; Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; San Salvador, El Salvador; Split, Croatia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Taipei, Taiwan; Vancouver, Canada; and Yerevan, Armeria.
Through a competitive selection process, up to six journalists from media outlets serving LA’s Sister Cities will be chosen to participate in the program. To be eligible for the program, journalists are not required to live or work in a Sister City as long as their publication or broadcast is available in a Sister City.
Now in its third year, the Los Angeles-Sister City Journalist Fellowship is scheduled to take place April 6-13, 2008 (subject to change).
The fellowship program pays for all lodging, meals and events for participants. Airfare and travel expenses to and from Los Angeles for each fellow will be covered up to a maximum of US$1,500. Applicants must be currently employed as professional journalists or must be experienced freelance journalists on assignment by a media outlet. Journalists chosen to participate in the program agree to share the knowledge they gain with their readers, viewers or listeners. Preference will be given to journalists in countries that are a significant source or have the potential to be a significant source of visitors to Los Angeles.
The fellowships will consist of discussions on Los Angeles history and current affairs; tours of landmarks and neighborhoods; performances and exhibitions; and dialogues with experts on various aspects of the city. The program is intentionally small to allow for meaningful conversations and interactions among the Fellows and Los Angeles residents.
The first annual Los Angeles-Sister Cities Journalist Fellowship took place in 2006. Since then, the program has hosted print and electronic journalists from Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea.
Alex Vergara, a 2006 fellow, said; “What I found brave and refreshing is how the Fellowship helped us to see the real LA. This Fellowship offered a balanced picture—not a sugarcoated one. We also were able to gain access to places and people not normally within the reach of visitors. Therein lay one of the Fellowship’s strengths. The Fellowship covered almost every imaginable aspect about LA. I highly recommend it.”
Rainer Haubrich, a 2007 Fellow, said: “This was an eye-opener! The choice of speakers and events was excellent. It should be regarded as a privilege by all participants to get a city like LA on a ‘silver plate.’ It sparked an interest that will last for the rest of my professional career.”
Sponsors of the Los Angeles-Sister Cities Journalist Fellowship have included Air New Zealand;American Airlines; American Film Institute; Autry National Center; Beverly Hilton Hotel; California Institute of the Arts (CalArts); City of Los Angeles; Colburn School for the performing Arts; Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles; Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Los Angeles; Continental Airlines; El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical National Monument; German Consulate-General, Los Angeles; J. Paul Getty Trust; Hammer Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Los Angeles Opera; Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; Los Angeles World Airports; Loyola Marymount University; Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County; Morphosis Architects; The Music Center; New Zealand Consulate General, Los Angeles; Northwest Airlines; Patina Group; Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles; Port of Los Angeles; Shoppin’istas; Skirball Cultural Center; Walt Disney Company; Wilshire Grand Hotel, The Official Hotel of the Los Angeles Sister Cities Visiting Journalist Fellowship; UCLA; Universal Studios Hollywood; United Airlines; USC; and WICKED, The Musical.
Applications for the 2008 fellowships must be received by LA INC. by 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Friday, December 14, 2007. The 2008 Fellows will be announced on January 11, 2008.
The Sister Cities Program was created in 1956 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to strengthen partnerships between U.S. and international cities, with the hope that personal relationships fostered through Sister City affiliations would increase trade, cultural exchange and mutual understanding, thereby lessening the chance of future world conflicts. Los Angeles began its Sister Cities program in 1959 with Nagoya, Japan, and now includes 23 Sister Cities on six continents.
For more information on the Los Angeles Sister Cities Journalist Fellowships and to obtain applications and/or a sample of a previous Fellowship curriculum, contact: Michael McDowell, Senior Director for Cultural Tourism, LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, 333 S. Hope St., 18th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071 or mmcdowell@lainc.us.
