|
|
|
|
Dear members, partners, and friends,
As media organisations around the world continue to come to grips with the ever-increasing financial pressure brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, media development and journalism support organisations – including many of our own members – have developed handbooks and resources to help news organisations survive the crisis. For example, we have recently seen the launch of DW Akademie's " From start to success — a handbook for digital media entrepreneurs," a practical guide for digital media entrepreneurs who have founded a media outlet and are seeking sustainability without sacrificing quality of content. Others, such as Splice Media, have hosted webinars offering practical advice for media organisations applying for funding during the pandemic. As well as this, many have developed and launched new funding opportunities to help media organisations weather the storm.
In the face of a potential mass “ media extinction event,” it is more vital than ever that news organisations have access to a steady stream of funding opportunities. With that, we have decided to dedicate a larger section of MediaDev Insider to showcase active and open funding opportunities. As well as this, we will continue to share these opportunities on our LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, and on our recently updated Funding Opportunities page. We will still feature job vacancies and other opportunities, such as scholarships, internships, and miscellaneous calls for proposals on our website and in the MediaDev Opportunities section of the newsletter.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who attended our 15th Anniversary events on 1 and 2 October, and to everyone who made this moment of both celebration but also remembrance so heartfelt. It was an inspiring and emotional moment of solidarity for our community, and we so appreciate your support, engagement, reflections, feedback, and encouragement. During the events, we shared a video of our past and present chairpeople, directors, founders, and UN representatives discussing GFMD’s past and its achievements up to this point. You can now watch that video below. If you would like to see a recording of the full anniversary session, please get in touch at jhiggins@gfmd.info.
As always, thank you all for your continued support and engagement.
All the best,
Jordan and the GFMD Team |
|
Membership in News Fund
The Membership in News Fund provides financial and venture support to help news organisations build strong and flexible relationships with their audience members that can drive greater sustainability and impact. Membership Puzzle Project first launched the Membership in News Fund in 2018. The US$700,000 fund supported 23 membership experiments in 13 countries with grants between $10,000 and $60,000 each. Grant recipients received funding, targeted coaching, and an opportunity to join a global community of practice built around membership.
|
|
|
IJ4EU Impact Award
With a pot of cash prizes totalling €15,000, the IJ4EU Impact Award celebrates the best investigative journalism conducted by teams collaborating across borders in European Union member states and EU candidate countries. Nominations for the inaugural awards opened on Tuesday, 6 October 2020. An independent jury will select three collaborative, transnational investigations for three prizes, each worth €5,000. The winners will be announced at IJ4EU’s UNCOVERED Conference in early 2021.
|
|
|
Southern Movement Media Fund
Press On is accepting applications for the second round of its Southern Movement Media Fund, to provide much needed resources to Southern media makers and journalists practicing movement journalism for working alongside their communities, with each other, and with movement partners, to co-create the conditions needed for a quality life.
|
|
|
Neiman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation
The Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation brings individuals to Harvard University to work on a specific course of research or a specific project relating to journalism innovation. The fellowship is collaboration between the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard.
|
|
|
Chevening Africa Media Freedom Grants
Applications are open for the Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship. The fellowship seeks mid-senior level African professionals with demonstrable leadership skills in their fields, including public servants working in areas of media policy and regulatory frameworks, or media professionals and journalists.
|
|
|
Community media have never been more important – Also in Europe
On 22 October, 2020, we will host a GFMD member-only webinar with Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE). During the webinar we will be joined by a team of speakers from CMFE who will discuss their work and the increasing importance of community media in Europe and around the world. The webinar will take place on Zoom at 15:00 CEST. Members can register for that webinar here. |
|
|
Australia's Moves on Digital Platforms and Competition
On 24 September, GFMD hosted a webinar focusing on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) review of digital platforms. During the webinar, Holly Raiche – Chair of the Policy Committee of Internet Australia (the Australian chapter of the Internet Society) – joined GFMD’s Executive Director, Mira Milosevic, to discuss the review. A full recording can be found here. |
|
|
Internet Governance Forum 2020
The Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be hosted online under the overarching theme of Internet for Human Resilience and Solidarity. The programme continues to develop around the four main thematic tracks: (1) Data; (2) Environment; (3) Inclusion; and (4) Trust. The Dynamic Coalition on the Sustainability of Journalism and News Media (DC-Sustainability) will host its annual session on 5 November at 13:40 UTC. We invite all interested in joining to register. |
|
|
Canadian Media Freedom Conference
Rather than host an in-person Media Freedom Conference for 2020, the Government of Canada has opted for a virtual event that will kick off with a ministerial meeting on 16 November. The event, which will focus on the links between COVID-19 and media freedom, as well as the impact of artifical intelligence (AI), will also feature the presentation of the inaugural Canada-U.K. Global Award for Media Freedom.
|
|
|
World Press Freedom Day 2020
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual World Press Freedom Conference will now take place on 9-10 December 2020. GFMD, in partnership with BBC Media Action, Internews, and WAN-IFRA, will host a session titled “Supporting Journalism Sustainability: Immediate Solutions to an Urgent Problem” on Thursday, 10 December from 12:15 – 13:15 CET. The programme and registration are available here. |
|
|
ICFJ Journalism and the Pandemic Survey
|
|
|
HRC45th Session: Report on its Syria related activities
14 September 2020 marked the beginning of the 45th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). The session ran until 7 October 2020. After its conclusion, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) developed a summary report on the session's activities related to Syria.
|
|
|
Content Regulation and Human Rights
The Global Network Initiative (GNI) has issued a policy brief that uses human rights to analyze more than 20 recent, governmental initiatives that claim to address various forms of digital harm. Informed by this analysis, the brief offers practical guidance for governments and other stakeholders on how to formulate and implement content regulations that are effective, fit-for-purpose, and enhance and protect the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. |
|
|
Building Trust in Journalism – Bulgaria
The Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), together with their partners the Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation, have produced the following report that looks at the challenges that the media are facing in Bulgaria. This report follows the publication of reports on Poland and Hungary, and is part of a series of reports that will be published over the coming months on the media situations in Slovakia and Czech Republic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
