SIF Impact Media Fellowship: Connecting Lao Journalists to Regional Change

The Impact Media Fellowship builds capacity and exchanges ideas among journalists, publishers and broadcasters who want to use their platforms for social change. To be credible as a regional programme it needed genuine representation from Laos, a small media market where the right candidates are not found through open calls alone.

SIF needed a partner with the local relationships to reach working journalists, qualify them against the fellowship's criteria and keep the foundation visible in Laos before, during and after the programme.

Ruder Finn Era acted as the bridge between SIF and the Lao media community. Drawing on long-standing relationships with key outlets, the team mapped the journalists most likely to benefit from and contribute to the fellowship, approached them directly and guided them through the application.

Beyond recruitment, the team positioned the fellowship as an opportunity for Lao media rather than a foreign initiative, securing coverage that explained the programme's purpose and made sure SIF was well represented throughout.

The engagement opened doors for Lao journalists to a regional network while giving SIF a qualified, motivated cohort from a market it could not have reached alone.