Applications are invited for the 2026 Without Borders Media Fellowship by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders.
The fellowship supports journalists, photographers, filmmakers, digital media influencers, and newsroom editors interested in producing in-depth stories on humanitarian crises, public health challenges, and access to healthcare across South Asia.
Selected fellows receive financial support for reporting and travel expenses, mentorship from experienced journalists and public health specialists, training, and access to subject-matter experts. The programme aims to strengthen evidence-based storytelling that highlights the experiences of vulnerable communities and draws attention to pressing humanitarian and health issues.
The fellowship runs for approximately four months, with selected participants expected to complete a substantial reporting project in collaboration with MSF South Asia and their mentors.
The supplied announcement does not specify the application deadline. Interested applicants should consult the official MSF South Asia website for the current application schedule and submission instructions.
About the Without Borders Media Fellowship
The Without Borders Media Fellowship seeks to promote high-quality journalism on the intersection of health, humanitarian emergencies, social inequality, environmental change, migration, and access to medical services.
The programme encourages journalists to investigate issues affecting communities across South Asia, using field reporting, interviews, research, and multimedia storytelling to provide deeper insight into public health challenges.
Fellows work with mentors who have expertise in journalism, public health, medicine, and humanitarian operations. The programme also encourages collaboration between journalists and humanitarian actors to improve understanding of local contexts and strengthen public discussion around humanitarian values.
MSF introduced its media fellowship programme in India in 2016 and subsequently expanded it internationally. According to the supplied announcement, the initiative has received more than 400 applicants across four countries and selected 20 fellows whose work has explored critical health and humanitarian issues.
Fellowship Benefits
Successful applicants receive a combination of financial, professional, and editorial support to help them complete their proposed reporting projects.
Benefits include:
- Reporting and travel funding: Financial support for reasonable and detailed reporting budgets, including field visits and related project expenses.
- Professional mentorship: Guidance from experienced journalists and relevant subject-matter specialists.
- Training and sensitisation: Opportunities to strengthen understanding of medical, public health, and humanitarian issues.
- Access to experts: Connections with MSF medical and operational specialists and, where relevant, experts from partner organisations.
- Knowledge sharing: Exposure to MSF’s model of care and its approach to humanitarian medical action.
- Publication opportunities: Multimedia journalists producing news feature stories may have their work featured on the MSF South Asia website.
The grant primarily covers reporting and travel costs. MSF encourages news organisations to pay journalists for their work, although stipends to cover a reporter’s time may be considered in exceptional cases. Newsroom applicants cannot include overhead or indirect expenses in their budgets.
Available Grant Categories
Applicants can choose from the grant category that best matches their proposed story and eligibility.
1. General Grant
The General Grant supports in-depth reporting on a range of public health and humanitarian themes, including:
- Tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis
- HIV and access to treatment
- The health impacts of climate change
- Women’s health and reproductive healthcare
- The impact of caste discrimination on health
- Health misinformation
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Digital and mobile health
- Healthcare access in conflict settings
- Migration, displacement, and refugees
- Mental health
The programme seeks proposals that investigate the experiences of affected populations, identify barriers to healthcare, and explore wider social, economic, environmental, or policy factors contributing to health inequalities.
The announcement identifies different geographical priorities for particular themes. For example, tuberculosis proposals may focus on India, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, while HIV reporting may focus on India, Sri Lanka, or Nepal.
2. MSF–DNDi Grant for Neglected Tropical Diseases
This grant focuses on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including lymphatic filariasis, visceral leishmaniasis, mycetoma, dengue, and snakebite.
It supports reporting on how poverty, inadequate sanitation, limited healthcare access, and gaps in diagnosis and treatment affect communities living with these conditions.
Applicants may explore the relationship between neglected diseases, gender, paediatric health, climate change, and inequalities in medical research. Successful applicants receive reporting support and access to experts from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
This grant is restricted to applicants from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
3. Additional Specialist Themes
The supplied announcement also describes reporting opportunities focused on gender-responsive research and development and antimicrobial resistance.
The gender-responsive research theme examines the underrepresentation of women in biomedical research and clinical trials, including gaps in evidence about medication safety and effectiveness for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The antimicrobial resistance theme focuses on access to effective antibiotics, particularly in India, and the challenges facing patients across public and private healthcare systems and urban and rural settings. The announcement references support from the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) for this reporting area.
Applicants should confirm the current grant structure and eligible themes in the official application materials before selecting a category.
Who Can Apply?
The fellowship welcomes journalists from diverse backgrounds and of all nationalities who are working across South Asia and meet the programme’s requirements.
Eligible professional backgrounds include:
- Staff and freelance journalists
- Print and online reporters
- Photographers and photojournalists
- Radio and audio journalists
- Television and video journalists
- Digital media influencers, including those working on YouTube
- Newsroom editors and media professionals
Applicants must have at least three years of professional experience. Former fellows are also eligible to apply.
Applications must be submitted in English. However, fellows are encouraged to publish their stories in local languages in their respective regions where appropriate.
Proposals must address significant public health or humanitarian issues in the countries identified by the programme and align with MSF’s work, social mission, and values. Selection also considers the current relevance of the proposed story and whether the storytelling approach can provide fresh insights into the issue.
Required Reporting Deliverables
Applicants must select one reporting format for their fellowship project.
Print or digital reporting: Fellows must publish either a series of at least two articles of approximately 800 words each, written as features or analysis pieces, or one long-form story of at least 1,500 words. The work must appear on a recognised news platform.
Video or multimedia reporting: Fellows must publish one video story or short film of at least eight minutes, a photo essay containing 15–20 photographs or illustrations supported by 600 words of text, or a series of two videos of at least four minutes each.
Applicants must include a letter of commitment from a national or international media organisation willing to publish or broadcast their work. Journalists already employed by a newsroom should confirm that their organisation is prepared to publish the proposed story.
Fellows are also expected to coordinate with MSF South Asia and their mentors when presenting facts, personal experiences, and medical information, taking particular care to protect patient privacy, rights, and access to healthcare.
Documents and Information Required
Applicants should prepare a detailed application containing the following:
- Story proposal: A well-researched pitch of 500–750 words, including the proposed title, reporting locations, references, relevant data, and supporting news examples.
- Publication medium: Indicate whether the project will be published in print, digital media, television, or a podcast, as applicable to the proposal.
- Media commitment letter: Provide evidence that a media organisation is interested in publishing or broadcasting the proposed work.
- Reporting plan: Include preferred project dates, field visit schedules, locations, and potential legal or physical risks.
- Stakeholder list: Identify the institutions, organisations, collectives, and individuals who may contribute information or insight.
- Published work samples: Submit links to three relevant stories published recently.
- Statement of motivation: Prepare a statement of approximately 300 words explaining the applicant’s interest in the fellowship.
- CV or résumé: Provide a current professional résumé.
- Professional references: Include the names and contact details of two professional referees.
- Collaborators and publication timeline: Identify any collaborators, such as photographers, illustrators, data scientists, or local reporters, and provide a tentative publication date.
Applicants with evidence of preliminary research or reporting on their proposed subject may strengthen their submissions.
Application Deadline and How to Apply
The application deadline for the 2026 Without Borders Media Fellowship is not stated in the supplied announcement. Candidates should verify whether applications are still being accepted before preparing a submission.
To access the official programme information:
- Visit the MSF South Asia website at https://www.msfsouthasia.org/.
- Navigate to the media fellowship programme or Without Borders Media Fellowship section.
- Review the current call for proposals, eligible grant categories, thematic priorities, and application deadline.
- Prepare the required story proposal, reporting plan, media commitment letter, work samples, motivation statement, CV, and professional references.
- Submit the application according to the official instructions.
Final Note
The MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship offers experienced journalists and media professionals an opportunity to investigate underreported health and humanitarian issues through supported, in-depth reporting. Candidates with strong story ideas, relevant professional experience, and a clear publication plan should review the official requirements carefully and confirm the current application deadline before applying.
