Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding 25-30 journalism grants which aim to advance creative reporting approaches. Full grants may cover direct expenses for journalistic research and study trips including travel and accommodation, information procurement costs, graphics design and visualization, adaptation of software and other justified costs incurred. Alternatively, partial grants can be made available to top up existing reporting budgets. Application should be send online by 2nd of September 2013.
Study Subject (s): The grant is awarded in journalism.
Course Level: It is 4 months grant programme which aims to advance creative reporting approaches.
Scholarship Provider: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Scholarship can be taken at: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Eligibility:
- Journalists and relevant media outlets that target audiences in one or more of the eight European countries with the highest net official development assistance are eligible to apply: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Media published in any of the official languages of the admissible countries may submit an application.
- Journalists and media outlets not based in the countries mentioned above, as well as freelancers, are ONLY eligible to apply as cooperation partners of admissible organizations. A “letter of commitment” for the story to be published or aired by an eligible media outlet will be required from all applicants, once they have been invited to submit a full-fledged proposal.
- State owned or directly government-controlled entities are NOT eligible for funding.
- All projects must provide in-depth information of relevance beyond the limitations of daily news cycles.
- The latter must be true even if the coverage appears on the occasion of specific news events such as summits or conferences.
- Projects are required to address by theme, style, and presentation the general public, or large audience segments, or must effectively leverage important multipliers. They may be one-off publications or entire series, which must be narrative, exploratory and explanatory in nature, and may be presented in a linear or non-linear fashion including text, graphics, images, animations, interactive elements, video, audio, or film.
- Projects aiming at cross-country cooperation and using multiple platforms are strongly encouraged to apply. A relevant media outlet is considered to be one of the following: A public or commercial broadcaster with at least broad regional reach; a mainstream print magazine or newspaper with distribution at least in a region or major city with over 500,000 inhabitants; a print trade publication or specialist magazine of particular influence as a multiplier; a website of significant reach and audience, an electronic format such as a mobile application - or contribution to an existing app – with demonstrable potential to reach a large audience.
Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: There are no citizenship or nationality requirements, however, all media and journalists can apply if they partner with an eligible media.
Scholarship Description: The Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR) is a media-funding project operated by the European Journalism Centre (EJC). The grant programme aims to advance creative reporting approaches, thus enabling a better coverage of international development issues. The grant is intended to raise awareness about these issues by having a strong impact on media audiences in eight of the European countries with the highest net official development assistance: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Innovative reporting projects will be awarded considerable funding, with an aim to support journalists, editors, and development stakeholders to perform thorough research and to develop new, exciting, and even experimental reporting, employing state of the art presentation methods and techniques of journalistic storytelling. At a time when many media organizations face financial constraints, the grant programme aims to better enable media houses to go beyond their usual reporting approaches and thus set a new and distinctive agenda for development coverage.
Number of award (s): A maximum of 25 to 30 grants will be made available in 2013.
Duration of award (s): The projects funded under this grant project need to be completed within 4 months after signing the grant contract. If your story requires more time, please provide a reasonable explanation regarding why your story pitch.
What does it cover? Applicants must apply for a minimum grant of €8,000. For your reference, they expect the average grant given to be about €20,000. A maximum of 25 to 30 grants will be made available in 2013. Applicants may apply for full or partial story funding. Full grants may cover direct expenses for journalistic research and study trips, including travel and accommodation, possible technical costs for equipment or crew, information procurement costs (such as access to professional databases or original data gathering efforts), graphics design and visualization, adaptation of software, and other justified costs incurred directly in the implementation of the project. Alternatively, partial grants can be made available to top up existing reporting budgets.
Selection Criteria: Award decisions will be based solely on journalistic quality and merit, and will be taken in complete editorial independence from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Notification: Following the application deadline, each applicant will be notified of the final decision by email within three weeks after the deadline has passed.
How to Apply: The mode of applying is online.
Scholarship Application Deadline: The application form will be closed on the 2nd of September 2013 (midnight CET).
