LOCAL online reporter Kurt Campbell has been selected by the United Nations (UN) to participate in its annual Reham Al Farra Memorial Journalist Fellowship Programme, in New York over the next four weeks.Campbell is notably the second Guyanese to participate in the Fellowship Programme since its inception in 1980. The first, local journalist to benefit from the programme was News Source’s Gordon Moseley who participated in 2004.
Additionally, Campbell is the only person from the Caribbean selected to participate in the Fellowship this year. Annually, the UN selects 15 journalists from around the world to participate in the fellowship programme which was established by the United Nations General Assembly with the aim of exposing junior and mid-level journalists from developing countries to the work of the Organisation.
It also provides an opportunity to meet journalists from other countries and exchange ideas with UN communication professionals. Speaking with Guyana Chronicle on Thursday, Campbell said he is elated that he has been selected by the UN to participate in the Fellowship. He noted that he first applied in 2015 but was unsuccessful.
He did not let the disappointment faced in 2015 deter him from trying again and this year he emerged successful. He told Guyana Chronicle that being informed that he was selected to participate did not come by surprise as he was confident of success but his elation came from the fact that he is the second local journalist to be selected to participate.
According to the 27-year-old journalist, it was ‘a dream come true’ for him. He said his hard work over the years has paid off and his participation in the Journalist Fellowship Programme will be used as a stepping stone for him. “I am overjoyed; grateful…I am thankful to the UN as I believe this (fellowship programme) will serve as an enriching experience that speaks to self-development. It is much needed exposure that will allow me to return to Guyana and share my experiences with my colleagues.”
Having started his journey in the media back in 2012, Campbell was a television and radio news presenter on the state owned National Communications Network (NCN) after which he moved to online news agency Inews. He now works at News Source, another local online media entity.
Campbell will spend four weeks (September 8 through October 5, 2016) working at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan, New York. According to the UN Department of Public Information, participants are expected to continue working in journalism or broadcasting and help to promote a better understanding of the UN in their respective countries.
Participants must be aged between 22 and 35 and currently employed by a recognized media organisation, with several years of professional experience and oral and written fluency in English. The fourteen other countries participating in this year’s fellowship are Cote d’Ivoire, Oman, Sudan, Malaysia, Cuba, Kenya, Guatemala, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Nigeria, Myanmar and Mongolia.
