Call for Applications – CIJI Second Cohort of Regional Media Hubs in Europe

Free Press Unlimited (FPU) is launching an open call for applications for selection of three regional media hubs, as part of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI). CIJI is run by a consortium with Tactical Tech (TT), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Fundacja Reporterow (FR), OBC Transeuropa and Delfi.

The call is open to media organisations that have a proven track record and an established media network in the field of collaborative and investigative journalism in one of the following respective regions:

• Bulgaria and/or Romania,
  any country of the European Union as long as their work focuses on supporting journalists originally from
• Belarus, and/or Ukraine, and/or Russia who are legally residing in the EU as a result of the war in Ukraine and/or related to its imposed media censorship,
• any country of the European Union, with a preference for Central Europe (Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) provided their work focuses on collaboration among journalists and media outlets from Western and Eastern Europe.

Individual organisations, as well as joint applications from consortia and regional partnerships are encouraged. The programme’s guiding principle is regional engagement and empowering existing regional initiatives as opposed to creating new ones.

Selected applicants will benefit from financial support, training, resource sharing and exchange of best practices, collaborations, access to innovative methods and techniques – all following established journalism standards.

One media hub per region is anticipated to be funded. Each hub will be awarded 50,000 EUR to be able to perform their activities as CIJI regional hubs of collaborative and investigative journalism. The funding is meant to support the coordination activities of the regional hubs.

The three regional hubs will be instrumental to independent journalists and media outlets in the respective regions that would like to build skills and expertise in pursuing and coordinating investigative work, connect to peers and deepen their understanding of tools and methods used in investigations, ensure the safety of their teams and sources, etc.

Deadline and eligibility criteria

• Applications can be submitted via the online application form until 31 October 2023, 23:59 CET.
• You can find more details about the eligibility criteria and selection process in this Call for Applications document.