Netherlands Fellowship Programme in Broadcast Management, RNTC

To strengthen the capacity of managers working in the media sector (in programme and/or journalism management) to contribute to organisational development in a changing media environment.

Broadcast management: a discipline in it’s own right
More than ever broadcast managers have a crucial role to play in ensuring the success and the future of their organisations. Whether working for state, public, private or commercial broadcasters managers face the challenge of having to help their organisations adapt and thrive in an increasingly competitive media industry. Characteristic of the industry are rapid technological change, fragmented and fickle audiences able to choose from a growing number of media outlets, and a complex, shifting political and legislative environment.

Traditionally broadcast managers have been either promoted from the ranks of programme-makers and journalists or appointed from management positions outside the broadcast sector. In both cases they often find themselves not well-equipped for the specific challenges of broadcast management in which a proper understanding of the creative process and the production pathway has to be combined with the ability to manage limited financial and technical resources, and give innovative leadership to a group of highly creative and articulate individuals. Where once it was enough to have a background in either media or in some form of management, broadcast management is now increasingly seen as a discipline in its own right, requiring professionalisation; broadcast organisations now need to be committed to ensuring their managers develop and continue to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be effective and successful.

Methodology: sharing knowledge and experience
The course will focus on the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by managers at organisational and departmental level in broadcast journalism and programming. This includes attention to leadership and management styles best suited to working with journalistic and creative programme staff. Attention will also be given to editorial and financial management, and to the role that innovation and feedback can play in improving the quality of journalistic and programme output, and in motivating and developing staff.

Participants will also become familiar with instruments to analyse the broader organisational and media environment and how this affects management policy and decision-making at departmental level. Participants will be able to formulate the contribution managers can make to organisational development as well as to effective staff recruitment and improved staff performance, for instance through systematic staff appraisal and training/coaching.

The course will emphasise exchanging and sharing knowledge and experience with the other international broadcast managers on the course. Working visits to broadcast public and commercial organisations in the Netherlands will allow participants to gain insights into other broadcast management structures and practices, and to discuss problems and potential solutions with colleagues working at similar management levels.

In 2012, the course will coincide with RNTC’s Training the Trainers course which will allow the participating managers to analyse and discuss with trainers and training organizers the potential role of training in helping them to identify and correct performance problems within their departments. Attention will also be given to their own role in coaching and mentoring staff.

Who can apply?
All RNTC’s courses are targeted at media professionals from developing countries and countries in transition. If you are working for a media organisation, or an organisation working with the media, you can apply.

For all our courses, the following requirements apply:

you have a minimum of three years working experience in the media
you have followed secondary education, and professional education or training in media
you are used to work with computers
your speaking and writing skills in English (the course language) are sufficient

There are no restrictions on the age of the applicants or on the maximum number of participants from one given organisation or country.

Specific target group for this course
This course is open to managers working in programme/editorial management at organisational or departmental level in the state, public, private or commercial broadcast sector. Applicants are expected to have at least three years experience of working in broadcasting and should be currently working in management.

How to apply?
We warmly welcome you to apply for this course. In case of any troubles with your application, please contact us at info@rntc.nl

Self-paying or sponsored candidates only apply with RNTC. Nationals from 60 countries can apply for a NFP-fellowship, provided by the Dutch government. They apply with both RNTC and NFP.

Course fee and fellowship
To cover the costs of participation, you have three options:

You or your organisation covers the costs. Upon request, we’ll provide you with detailed information about the costs involved of the course of your choice (info@rntc.nl)
You’ll find a sponsor or a grant to participate (for more information, visit: www.grantfinder.nl)
You’ll apply for a Fellowship under the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP)

Netherlands Fellowship Programme
The Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) is a demand-driven fellowship programme designed to foster capacity building within organisations by providing training and education to their mid-career staff members. NFP-fellowships cover your travel costs, accommodation and course fee. NFP is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development co-operation, and run by NUFFIC, the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education. Half of the available fellowships are awarded to women, and simultaneously, half of the available budget is spent on candidates from sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from this, priority is given to candidates from deprived groups and/or from marginalized regions.

Who is eligible for NFP?
To be eligible for a scholarship under the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes you must meet the following criteria:

You are a a national of one of the following 60 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
You are not applying for more than one course with the same NFP application deadline
You are not employed by a multinational corporation, a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, a bilateral or multinational donor organisation, or a large national and/or commercial organisation
You have not already received two NFP fellowships for short courses in the past
You have not already received an NFP fellowship for a short courses in the year prior to this fellowship application

Application procedure
1) Select the course you want to apply for
2) Check that you are eligible under the course selection criteria and that the course is still open for applications
3) Download the RNTC application form, fill it in and send it to RNTC by post, by fax or by email. We will send you confirmation that we have received it.

Postal address: RNTC Course Secretariat, P.O. Box 303, 1200 AH Hilversum, The Netherlands
Fax: + 31 35 6724531
Email: applications@rntc.nl

Please note: if you send your application by email you will need to scan the parts of the application which require your and your employer’s signatures; you will also need to scan the relevant diploma’s/qualifications and send them as attachments.

4) If you want to apply for an NFP fellowship and are eligible (see below) to do so, you can fill in and submit your NFP application online or on paper.

Online: (The application form follows after you’ve answered the knock out questions) at the NFP Scholarships Online (SOL) website. Problems with your application? Check the manual.
Paper: you can find the application form at www.nuffic.nl. You should send the form to NUFFIC, NFP-team, P.O. Box 29777, 2502 LT The Hague, The Netherlands

If you have any questions regarding the NFP application procedure, check the FAQ’s at Nuffic’s website.

5) If you are submitting your NFP application online or on paper, make sure that you do so before the deadline for online and paper (a month earlier) applications.

6) Allow 12-16 weeks from the online application deadline for the NFP application process to be completed. You will be informed automatically both if your application is rejected and if it is successful. All NFP applicants (online and on paper) will be able to check the status of their application by logging on to the SOL website.

Course dates: May 28 – June 8, 2012 (2 weeks)
Media: Radio, Television and internet
Type of Diploma: Certificate
RNTC application deadline: September 15, 2011
NFP applications: online between July 1 and October 1, 2011 (on paper: September 1, 2011)
Deadline non fellowship applicants: February 28, 2012

For more information, please visit official website: www.rntc.nl.