Digital Rights Programme Grants for Journalists, Researchers and CSOs

• Eligibility: Journalists, researchers, civil society organisations and media outlets from
• Type of funding: Programmatic
• Target countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Romania
• Application language: English

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) has launched its proposal for Digital Rights Programme Grants for Journalists, Researchers and CSOs.

Type of grants:

• Research Paper Grants: BIRN Hub is calling for proposals for three research papers from the six Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro), focused on the following issues:
  – Big tech companies and local media in the Balkans,
  – Media and their role in influencing the digital environment,
  – State and non-state actors regulating/influencing online media outlets.
• Digital Rights Story Grants for Journalists and Media: As technical attacks on online media, pressures on journalists and misuse of digital tools have increased, BIRN is calling on interested journalists, media organisations and media outlets to apply for story grants to shed light on the links between trends in the digital ecosystem and the problems of the media landscape in the region.
  – Whether you would like to write a feature, investigation, analysis or op-ed, they would be interested to see your proposal.
  – Financial and editorial support will be provided to individuals, teams and organisations who can explore the link between the state of media freedoms and: Information security breaches / Information privacy and personal data breaches / Pressures due to statements and activities on the internet / Manipulation and propaganda in the digital environment; /Holding technological intermediaries liable / The blocking and filtering of content.
• Story Requirements
  – The story must deal with the link between the state of media freedoms and digital rights violations in the targeted region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania).
  – The story must be relevant to the Balkan region.
  – Theyare looking for in-depth articles that provide new information or have a unique angle on the issue.
  – Each story should be around 1,500 words long.
  – Each selected story must be published within a maximum of two months of receipt of the first installment of the grant.

See here to learn more and apply.