Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants

• Eligibility Criteria
  To apply for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants, applicants must:
  – Demonstrate a commitment to producing high-quality, independent journalism that serves the public interest;
  – Propose a story with an investigative and in-depth angle, impactful for the community;
  – Express clear intention and means of including underrepresented communities in stories. These communities may include marginalised groups such as minorities, youth, women and other underreported communities;
  – Be a legally registered entity within the country of application on or before 1 January, 2023;
  – Demonstrate a commitment to actively participate in on-the-job mentoring in engagement journalism and the professional use of audience-engagement tools, following the guidance provided by mentors.
• Type of Funding: Programmatic
• Target Region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.
• Application Language: English

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is calling on media outlets to involve their audiences in reporting by applying for Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants.

This innovative approach places the audience as a direct and active participant in content creation, fostering trust and stronger relationships between media outlets and their communities, ultimately making them more credible and reliable sources of information.

Types of Grants

Two following types of grants are available under this Call for Applications:

• Individual Grants for media outlets wishing to cover national/regional/local topics using their own newsroom resources.
• Cross-border Grants for at least two media outlets interested in investigating cross-border topics in partnership with the other media outlet. The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants foster a collaborative environment where media outlets can come together to share their proficiency and expertise. By working together media outlets not only enhance their reporting capabilities but also increase their reach and impact.

Outcomes

The audience-engaged grants are designed to achieve the following outcomes with project-supported media outlets:

• Access to digital audience-engaged tool, which will be actively used in project to involve communities in story development
• Training in engagement journalism and audience-engaged tool usage
• On-the-job mentoring in audience-engaged story production
• Production of investigative and engaging stories of local and regional interest that are based on
• information crowdsourced using digital tool for audience-engagement
• Support to join forces and collaborate, sharing knowledge and expertise with one another
• Support to continue using the audience-engaged tool, fostering a sustained culture of community engagement

Funding Information

• Grants for individual stories of up to €4,000.
• Grants for cross-border stories of up to €8,000.

See here to learn more and apply.

Access the Fundraising Guide for expert advice on how to improve your fundraising applications and to identify prospective donors.