Strengthening Independent Media and Citizen Journalists (Burma)

• Eligibility Criteria:
  DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses.
• Type of funding: Programmatic
• Target country: Burma
• Application language: English

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects that strengthen the resilience and capacity of independent media and citizen journalists in Burma. They aim to securely disseminate information to Burmese audiences and stakeholders that allows decision-makers and citizens to have informed debates on the country’s future.

DRL seeks proposals that promote increased transparency and access to information by strengthening the resilience and capacity of independent media and citizen journalists to securely disseminate information to Burmese audiences and stakeholders that allows decision-makers and citizens to have informed debates on the country’s future.

The program should be designed to achieve the following objective:

• Burmese citizens have increased access to timely, quality information on conflict and political developments in Burma that supports informed analysis and debates on the country’s future.

Illustrative project activities may include:

• Support citizen journalists with technical and financial assistance to produce timely, ethical, fact-based and non-biased local reporting, including trainings on basic journalism skills and understanding of journalism ethics
• Establish secure connections between established independent media outlets and networks of citizen journalists that can inform their reporting;
• Establish mentorship relationships between veteran journalists and citizen journalists or early career journalists, to cultivate a future generation of Burmese journalists;
• Provide digital and physical security training and resources, as well as psychosocial support to citizen and professional journalists;
• Provide trainings for citizen and professional journalists to more readily identify regime disinformation narratives;
• Support reporting that identifies and analyzes trends of regime disinformation in engaging formats, to spark informed and constructive debate on the architecture of disinformation, as well as core divisions within Burmese society
• Support trainings and/or small group discussions between citizen journalists and professional journalists, to contextualize rapid citizen journalist reporting within broader conflict analysis and debates on Burma’s political future
• Integration of principles of gender, religious, and ethnic diversity and inclusion into all program activities
• Provide support to existing efforts and tools or support the development of new and creative opportunities for journalists to share credible information

All programs under the call to strengthen independent media and citizen journalists in Burma should aim to have an impact that leads to reforms and should have the potential for sustainability beyond DRL resources.

See here to learn more and apply.

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