Deadline: November 10, 2022
Applications are open for the European Local Cross-border Investigative Journalism Grants 2022/2023. This grant programme supports local cross-border investigative teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets to bring the locals to the European level as well as to local citizens all over Europe.
Compelling stories can be found everywhere, even at the local level. Unlike other parts of the world, local journalists in some European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands do not engage in in-depth research or investigative journalism. There are many reasons why the lack of interest among these local journalists to pursue comprehensive projects exist, for example, a lack of funding.
This grant programme aims to address the shortage of local journalists and award grants to local investigative and in-depth journalistic projects. The key aspect of this programme is the cross-border collaboration, which will allow interested local journalists and/or media outlets to explore possible solutions using expansive resources. This project also aims to spur more critical thinking about society's pressing problems, increase the level of debate, and foster civic engagement. The grant can also offer support to preliminary work in the development of new investigative and in-depth projects.
Grant
- The total available amount per call to be distributed among all supported investigations will be around €100,000.
Eligibility
- Local Cross-Border investigative teams of at least two journalists and/or media outlets can submit a proposal for local journalistic investigations in Europe.
- The applicants must be professional freelance journalists or media outlets. Personal references and/or references to earlier work are essential in that respect. Media outlets must be legal entities officially incorporated at least one year before the application deadline of the grant call.
- The investigation proposal must concern local cross-border investigative journalism in geographical Europe. The aim of this grant programme is to stimulate local journalists and media outlets to compare with other regions and cities in other countries that face similar problems or challenges, which are eminently European issues.
- The result of the investigation must be published by at least two professional media outlets in at least two different European countries. Letters of intent (LOI) for publication from at least two professional media outlets are required.
- Investigative journalism published by professional media in any form is eligible, no matter whether print, online, broadcast or cross-media. All journalistic end products qualify for a grant: newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television documentaries and series, photo-reportages and books, podcasts and journalistic non-fiction books.
Assessment Criteria
The jury will assess the applications based on the following criteria:
- Relevance for the thematic focus of this programme
- Added value compared to mainstream coverage
- Cross-border aspect
- Quality of research methods and presentation/storytelling
- Feasibility of the investigation, timeline and budget
- Team structure and experience of the applicants
- Work effort requirement
- Pooling research capacity and knowledge
- Watchdog of institutions, policies and money
Application
For this grant programme there are 6 application rounds scheduled over a period of two years (2022-2023). The third call application deadline is on Thursday 10 November 2022, 12 pm CEST (noon Brussels time).
For more information, visit journalismfund Grant.