R2AK 2022 Media Fellowship
Application window is closed.
We’re looking for some exceptionally talented storytellers to report on the 2022 Race to Alaska.
You will be the storytellers to have a front-row seat for the ENTIRE 750-mile race.
Leading up to and during the Race to Alaska these content creators will tell the story of the race, with both up-to-the-minute and more in-depth stories. We want people who can share the Race to Alaska with their audience through their lens, and also create stories that the race shares with its audience.
This is an opportunity to cover rich, exciting content and have your work shared with a wide audience, Race to Alaska content has perennial worth on our social media and YouTube channels with a reach in the hundreds of thousands and single posts during the race experiencing interactions by 10-65 thousand viewers.
We will send you all over the racecourse along the rugged and beautiful BC coastline to tell awesome stories about the Race to Alaska. We’ll support you in finding the best stories and following your curiosity.
If this sounds like your brand of whiskey, R2AK is the race for you.
Who is this for?
Adventurous and creative individuals who want to develop their careers as chroniclers of the outdoors and exploration.
Applicants can work across media/genres but are ideally great with short video content, photojournalism, or photo-supported journalism. Social media/influencer skills are also of high value! Looking for people who want a career in adventure journalism/media and/or people who want to get to the core of the human experience, who seek to tell soulful stories about the race and the racers.
Have a good eye and an inimitable outlook on the world.
This is an incredibly unique race that tests skill, knowledge, endurance, and fortitude. Be someone who wants to explore this thing from the inside out, someone who notices things that nobody else does, who sees connections, humor, irony, beauty, wonder, harshness, happiness…actually, you tell us!
R2AK is based on the hardest kind of simplicity.
No motor, no support, all the way to Alaska. Race to Alaska is an engineless, unsupported boat race that requires the physical endurance, saltwater know-how, and bulldog tenacity to navigate the 750 cold water miles from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. r2ak.com
Race to Alaska is a project of the Northwest Maritime Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Port Townsend, WA, whose mission is to engage and educate people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.
Start learning more about the race at r2ak.com and see the teams you’d be covering. We also recommend you view the past videos to understand better the unique culture of this race. Here are a few to get you started: video 1, video 2, video 3, and more.
The Northwest Maritime Center is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes and encourages individuals of all cultures and communities to apply.
Who are you?
Candidates should have a wide range of visual and written communication skills as well as a specialization in one of the following:
- Documentary film/video
- Photography
- Written reporting
- Social media storytelling
The qualities we ask you to bring:
- Independent, creative, curious, resourceful, communicative, flexible
- Great under pressure, works well with tight deadlines
- Able to interface with the pre-existing culture and brand of the Race to Alaska while sharing a strong individual creative voice (that we will strive to support)
- Adept visual storyteller
- Excellent written communication skills
- Respectful of nature
- Amicable and respectful of volunteers, able to connect with a wide range of people
- Fluent in social media
- Doesn’t get sea sick easily
Bonus skills:
- A sense of humor
- Boat handling experience/skills
- Wilderness experience (Guiding, WFR, etc.)
- Have a pre-existing social media presence
- Your own gear for capturing the stories
- A sleeping bag
What’s provided:
- $2000 stipend to spend on what you will: food, tourist trinkets in Alaska, or bear mace. It’s up to you.
- Lodging, transportation, and logistics will be provided by R2AK including round trip airfare from the continental US
- Digital storage
- Full access to the teams before and after the race
- Access to the R2AK footage archives
- And we will help get your stuff noticed
The Northwest Maritime Center can work with your educational institution to help you receive course credit.
Requirements:
- Be available, at minimum, June 1st to July 9th. (Weather conditions rule us all)
- Be over the age of…17
- Be available to produce internet-ready media on the fly