aidsmap has long been one of the world's leading sources of accurate, independent HIV information. After a period of uncertainty, aidsmap is back – and one of our priorities is reviving Emerging Voices, a programme to train and support a new generation of aidsmap writers. I'm personally thrilled that we are doing this, and I'd love to hear from you if you're looking to develop your scientific writing and become part of our team.
What is Emerging Voices?
Emerging Voices gives new writers the opportunity to develop their scientific journalism skills in a professional and supportive environment. Over the course of a year, participants take part in monthly group editorial meetings, work on writing assignments, and receive one-to-one coaching. We pay a monthly stipend of £200 to those taking part.
Participants write, update and edit content on aidsmap – including information pages and news articles – with support at every step.
Who are we looking for?
We welcome applications from people with a wide range of skills and backgrounds. You might have a proven ability to write well in other contexts and want to apply that to HIV. You might be an HIV advocate wanting to develop as a communicator. You might be a journalist, a healthcare worker, a researcher or a person living with HIV who wants to draw attention to issues that matter in your community and has a passion for getting the facts right.
Above all, we want our team to reflect the global diversity of our audiences – the communities worldwide who depend on accurate and independent HIV information. We particularly want to hear from people from communities disproportionately affected by HIV, including Black and ethnic minority communities, trans people, young people, and people with experience of sex work or drug use, who remain under-represented in scientific writing.
We accept applications from people anywhere in the world, and are especially keen to involve people with strong connections to communities affected by HIV in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other low- and middle-income settings. If you want to use your writing to draw attention to HIV treatment and prevention issues in these contexts, please get in touch.
What can the programme offer you?
Edith Magak is a great example of what the programme can offer. She joined Emerging Voices in 2021 from a journalistic background in Kenya, with, as she puts it, "no medical background and zero science writing experience."
After being in the programme for a year, she felt that she could understand and clearly write about the latest news on HIV. "Besides the writing, the programme has enabled me to unlearn and relearn the way I think about HIV prevention and treatment," she says. "This has given me a voice so that I can now confidently speak to peers and people in my community about the things I write, and how HIV has changed."
Since then, Edith has become a key member of aidsmap's editorial team and has built a career in health communications. I'm delighted that she will be co-facilitating the programme with me this year.
How to apply
If any of this resonates with you, we'd love to hear from you. Please download and complete the application form and send it to editorial@aidsmap.com by the 13 May.