The Ratiu Forum Journalism Mentorship Programme
The 2027 application call is open.
Submit your application by October 29, 2026.
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
Through individual mentorship, structured learning activities, and peer exchange, it provides a professionally rigorous framework in which emerging journalists can develop ambitious, high-quality work under the guidance of experienced European-based journalists.
The programme begins with an in-person meeting at the Rațiu Conference Centre in Turda, where selected participants pitch their story ideas to a panel of experienced mentors and receive tailored feedback to refine their proposals. Each mentee is then matched with one of the eight programme mentors, with whom they work closely over the following months — incorporating expert guidance into their research, developing their editorial judgment, and producing a final piece of journalism. Alongside the mentoring relationship, participants engage in a series of webinars designed to deepen their understanding of key aspects of the profession.
Starting in 2025, The Ratiu Report Substack serves as a digital platform for articles, event updates and community storytelling, where the body of work produced by the Mentorship is showcased.
This combination of individual guidance, collective learning, and real-world application is what distinguishes the Rațiu Forum Journalism Mentorship Programme and has established it as a valuable platform for the next generation of journalists in the region.
Detailed Program Calendar
- Applications: 15 September – 29 October 2026
- Final results announcement: 19 November
- Two preparatory calls for the Turda Meeting: late November, early December
- Kickoff meeting in Turda: exact dates TBC, long weekend in January 2027 (Fri – arrivals, Mon – departures)
- Mentoring sessions and fieldwork: January 2027 – May 2027
- Final Submission: May 23rd
- Evaluation and results: June 2027
- UK Summer School: dates TBC
THE RATIU DIALOGUES ON DEMOCRACY
ELIGIBILITY
Before applying, please carefully consider your ability to fully engage with this programme.
Candidates must:
– Be aged between 20 and 27 years old at the time of applying.
– Reside in Romania or one of the neighbouring countries.
This program requires active participation. We seek candidates who are enthusiastic and dedicated, in order to gain the maximum benefit from this opportunity.
If selected, you will have to:
Attend two preparatory calls during November and December 2026 in order to refine the story proposal submitted in the application form.
Attend a mandatory in-person kickoff meeting at the Ratiu Democracy Centre in Turda, Romania in January 2027. Transportation costs will be covered by the Ratiu Forum. Accommodation and meals will also be provided during the meeting.
Dedicate time for thorough fieldwork to develop your story in the first part of 2027.
Collaborate closely with your assigned mentor throughout the programme, maintaining timely and responsive communications and attending scheduled meetings (or calls) on an at least biweekly basis.
Successful participants are required to:
Pitch an original story idea and refine it based on feedback received from mentors.
Attend all scheduled activities in preparation for and during the in-person kickoff meeting.
Actively and responsibly engage in one-on-one mentorship sessions and other learning activities offered by the mentorship (webinars, learning materials).
Produce an original, well-researched story.
WHAT WE OFFER
Each year, the Ratiu Forum Journalism Mentorship Programme selects a group of promising young journalists to work on original stories from idea to publication, under the close guidance of top journalists and editors from Romania, the UK, Poland, Hungary, and beyond.
● Personalised mentoring with leading journalists and editors.
● Professional networking with peers and media experts across Europe.
● Publishing and visibility opportunities, with stories featured through The Ratiu Report and partner media outlets.
● A chance to compete for a fully funded place at an international journalism summer school in the United Kingdom.
● The cost of participation at the Kick-Off meeting is covered by the Ratiu Forum (transportation to and from Turda, accommodation and meals).
QUESTIONS?
Please contact: roxana.david@ratiudemocracycenter.org
THE MENTORS
Owen Bennett-Jones
He is a veteran journalist and broadcaster who spent more than 30 years at the BBC, reporting and presenting from around the world. He served as the BBC’s correspondent in Pakistan and has reported extensively across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He was a longtime presenter of the BBC World Service programme Newshour and is the author of Pakistan: Eye of the Storm and The Bhutto Dynasty: The Struggle for Power in Pakistan.
Elena Vijulie Tănase
Elena Vijulie Tănase, now the founder and president of the Amarjar Association, was the final director of Radio Free Europe after the newsroom closed in 2026. She led the RFE/RL Romania team from 2020 to 2026. She began her career in the fall of 2000, spending eight years at the BBC, followed by two years at România Liberă, before moving into television, where she spent eight of ten years at Digi24. With degrees in history and political science, she has distinguished herself through video documentaries on recent history, including The Story of The Wisdom of the Earth (2016), The Abdication of King Michael (2017), and The Romanian Revolution: Why Blood Was Shed (2019).
Romana Puiuleț
She is an investigative journalist and co-founder of RISE Project, with more than 20 years of experience in journalism. She has worked in both print and television, with a significant part of her career devoted to investigative reporting and video documentaries. Her work has covered corruption, the justice system, migration, organized crime, economic and political interests, the environment, and the use of public funds, both in Romania and through cross- border journalistic collaborations. Over the years, she has worked as a reporter and coordinated investigative journalism teams and projects.
Alison Mutler
Alison Mutler first began her career working with journalists covering communist Romania after she graduated Romanian literature and language at London University in 1987.Her proper debut came during the 1989 anti-communist revolution when she worked for Britain’s ITN television channel on the ground in Romania. She moved to Romania to work full-time as a journalist after the revolution and freelanced for the Daily Telegraph, CNN and the BBC et alia. She then spent 25 years as chief correspondent for The Associated Press, reporting on Romania, Moldova and occasionally Bulgaria. Since 2019, she has been with Universul.net and its director since 2021. She occasionally collaborates with Radio Free Europe, the Financial Times, Times Radio and others. Her book ‘Plecata la Revolutie’ (Gone to a Revolution) was published in 2007.
Dan Perry
Veteran global correspondent Dan Perry is the former chief editor of Associated Press for Europe and Africa (from London) and for Middle East (from Cairo). He has also served as AP’s bureau chief in the Caribbean (from Puerto Rico) and the chairman of the Foreign Press Association for Israel and Palestine. He is currently a world affairs columnist for Newsweek and The Forward and publishes a well-read newsletter on Substack, Ask Questions Later. He is also widely published in MediaIte, Jerusalem Post, CNN, The Hill, The Atlantic Council and Romania’s Universul and other publications, and is a television commentator, He led projects that have won numerous prizes (including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for an investigative all-format series on Yemen). With his background in technology and entrepreneurship as well, Dan has repeatedly served as a delegate at the World Economic Forum in Davos and various other global leadership conferences such as the Young Presidents Organization Geopolitics Summit, hosting panels with political and business leaders. His array of interview subjects range from John McCain, Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev and Benjamin Netanyahu to Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and U2 frontman Bono. He started his journalism career in video production and photography (some perhaps pixelated images available on Instagram @danperry63).
Christoph Plate
Christoph Plate is a German media expert and political analyst. He is the Director of the Media Programme South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. From 2017 until 2023 he was Head of the Media Programme for Subsahara Africa, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the 1990s, Plate worked as contributing Africa Correspondent for the German news magazine Der Spiegel, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He reported on civil wars in Somalia, Sierra Leone and Liberia and he covered the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. From the early 2000s Plate was Middle East editor and reporter for the Sunday edition of Neue Zuercher Zeitung in Switzerland, covering the fall of Bagdad, the rise of Hamas in Gaza and the war in Afghanistan. Before joining the Foundation, Plate served as Deputy Editor-in-chief of Schwaebische Zeitung, a big regional newspaper in South-western Germany.
Mariana Rață
Mariana Rață is an investigative and TV journalist from Moldova. She is the co-founder of the independent TV stations TV8 and 1TV. Mariana Rață is a Senior Editor at TV8 and the host of one of the most important political and investigative talk shows in Moldova – Black Box.
Since 2017, Rață has been the President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Independent Journalism of Moldova. She has been awarded numerous national awards in the field of investigative journalism. In 2017, she was in the short list of winners of the European Press Prize, investigative category. Mariana Rață is also an anti-corruption and justice expert. She is the author of several studies on Selective Justice and the fight against corruption in the Republic of Moldova, carried out in collaboration with Freedom House, GIZ.
Adam Reichardt
Adam Reichardt is the Editor-in-Chief of the New Eastern Europe magazine based in Poland. Published since 2011, the magazine is one of the leading publications dedicated to the region of Central and Eastern Europe. He is also the co-host of the “Talk Eastern Europe” podcast – the official podcast of New Eastern Europe. Adam has also previously worked as the Director of the Warsaw Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy (WEASA) which is organized annually at the College of Europe in Natolin (Warsaw) and was a member of the executive team of the Three Ukrainian Revolutions project run by the College of Europe. Adam was short-listed for the European Press Prize in the category of “Editing” for his work on New Eastern Europe and was named to the “New Europe 100” list of the region’s top innovators. In 2019 he was a Transatlantic Media Fellow with the Heinrich Boell Foundation. In addition to his activities at NEE, Adam also leads workshops on journalism, communications, and social media for students during international academies and seminars in Poland and abroad. Before establishing New Eastern Europe, Adam spent eight years in public policy in Washington DC, and a large portion of his studies in Krakow, Poland, where he now permanently resides. Adam has an MA in Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Management from the George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia USA.
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