Maastricht – The European Journalism Centre (EJC) announce that it has received financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance journalistic coverage of issues related to global development and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Therefore, in 2013 the EJC will implement a grants programme supported by the Gates Foundation.
The European Journalism Centre will provide a selection of innovative reporting projects with the necessary funds to enable journalists, editors, and development stakeholders to perform thorough research and to develop entirely new and experimental reporting and presentation methods. They will also be able to use multi-platform approaches and to think laterally across disciplines and techniques of journalistic storytelling. Award decisions, based on journalistic quality and merit, will be taken in complete editorial independence from the Gates Foundation.
The programme will launch three rounds of open calls for proposals and, in parallel, proactively solicit proposals from eminent media outlets focusing on the eight European countries with the highest development spending, namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Funding will cover direct expenses for journalistic research and study trips, possible technical costs for crews and equipment, data acquisition and analysis, visualisation, etc. Interested parties may apply for full or partial grants, excluding, however, salaries of permanent staff.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shares the conviction with the EJC that the lack of media coverage of international development issues in European news outlets is in part due to a lack of incentives for journalists and media organisations to cover development. The main aim, then, behind implementing the grant programme is to better enable quality journalism at a time where many media organisations face financial constraints and to stimulate new and creative reporting approaches.
The European Journalism Centre (EJC) is a non-profit international foundation with the remit to improve, strengthen, and underpin journalism and the news media. This mission has two main aspects: On the one hand, it is about safeguarding, enhancing, and future-proofing quality journalism in Europe and on the other hand, it is about supporting initiatives towards press freedom in emerging and developing countries. This often includes creating the framework conditions for independent and self-determined journalism in the first place. To these ends, the EJC provides thematic training, professional capacity development, and a wide range of support activities for journalists.
More detailed information on the application procedure, deadlines, and the aims of the project can be found at www.journalismgrants.org.
A. Ruggieri
