United Nations selects School of Media and Communication PhD student for prestigious journalism fellowship
Israel Campos is an Angolan freelance journalist and writer whose work focuses on youth, human rights, climate change, and social issues in Angola and across Portuguese‑speaking Africa.
Israel Campos, a PhD candidate at the School of Media and Communication, has been selected as one of 18 journalists from around the world for the 2026 Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship (RAF), the United Nations’ longest-running fellowship programme for journalists. The selection was made from more than 500 applications.
The fellowship brings together journalists from developing countries for an intensive programme focused on the work of the United Nations and international diplomacy.
During the fellowship, Israel will follow UN proceedings and briefings, and have opportunities to interview and engage with senior UN officials, experts from UN agencies and programmes, and representatives of Member States.
Israel Campos
Reacting to the news, Israel said: “The selection is particularly meaningful to me as an Angolan journalist. Angola has not had a representative in the programme since the 1990s. I am therefore very proud to be carrying Angola’s name into this space and representing the country within a programme that has been running since 1980.”
Israel Campos is an Angolan freelance journalist and writer whose work focuses on youth, human rights, climate change, and social issues in Angola and across Portuguese‑speaking Africa. His PhD research examines the history of Angolan journalism during the one-party Marxist–Leninist period (1975–1991), with a particular focus on journalistic agency and the constraints faced by media practitioners within a state-controlled system. The project explores how journalists navigated political pressure, ideological frameworks, and institutional limitations in shaping public discourse in the post-independence era.
Israel contributes to BBC, Voice of America, Al Jazeera and The Wall Street Journal. A member of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, he also participated in Finland's Foreign Correspondents’ Programme. In 2024, Israel received the Press Freedom Award from the Angolan Journalists’ Union. He is the author of the novel, E o Céu Mudou de Cor. He holds a BA in Journalism from City St George’s, University of London; an MA in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
More information about the 2026 fellowship and the selected journalists can be found on the UN website.
