What
Upcoming deadlines for global grants applications and other opportunities
This selection is aimed at media workers, practitioners, researchers and journalists. More information can be found by following the links under each summary.
All opportunities are in chronological order.
Good luck!
Around the world public media organisations and funders have also launched funds to help support producers, freelancers and creators and provide security during uncertain times. For more details about these opportunities, check out our dedicated public media funding page.
Also check out our Coronavirus resources and best practices page, which includes a list of additional funding opportunities that aim to support media professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Featured Opportunities
Why does media matter for development? – MOOC
The Public Media Alliance has joined forces with colleagues at the Department of International Development, University of East Anglia (UEA) to launch the free, four-week, online course via FutureLearn that explores why media matters for development.
Throughout the course, participants will cover different types of media including participatory, community, social and public media as well as media representations and how they play a vital role in development processes and social change.
The course is designed for individuals who have an interest in studying or working in the fields of media and international development and is open to all.
This course has closed but you may sign up for an alert when it reopens.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (IGJN) launched a collaborative network during a GIJN webinar. This is a platform where pitches for investigative documentaries and long-form productions about Covid-19 can be submitted and passed onto several public broadcaster production teams including BBC Africa, BBC Arabic, CBC Canada, PBS Frontline and RTS in Switzerland as well as Premières Lignes, an independent French TV production and news agency that has worked with France Télévisions.
Content for PMA members: Hidden Threats in your Takeout
PMA has once again partnered with Orb Media, a research journalism non-profit organisation, which specialises in transforming “global, long-term issues of social and environmental sustainability into locally actionable information”, to provide PMA members with free, high-quality news content and resources. Their latest project explores the unintended consequences for health and the environment from food deliveries that have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More information can be found at the Orb Media website, while PMA members should contact PMA for access.
Month by month
Covering the COVID-19 vaccine: What journalists need to know
29 March – 25 April
Knight Center is hosting a new massive open online course (MOOC), “Covering the COVID-19 vaccine: What journalists need to know.” The free four-week course will focus on improving news covering of COVID-19 and vaccines and is available in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish. Science journalists and medical experts will not only share tips for dispelling disinformation and misinformation when covering the vaccines, but will also discuss the efficacy of different vaccine formulas, analyse the distribution of vaccines, and much more. The MOOC is asynchronous and will have no live events scheduled at specific times.
NPR’s How I Built This Fellowship
Deadline: 31 March
Applications for the How I Built This Fellowship will open on 1 March. The fellowship offers one person a $50,000 grant to build their business venture. Fellows will be invited to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges, including NPR’s Guy Raz. Among eligibility requirements are a minimum age of 18 and applicants must have a business that is a US entity, located and organised within the US, and the business idea must be registered as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, s-corporation, or corporation in the US.
Youth4Regions
Applications REOPEN: 5 April 2021 (Closes 12 July)
Youth4Regions is a programme organised by the European Commission that gives students and young journalists the opportunity to enhance their experience and understanding of journalism in the region. They will be offered training, mentoring and the chance to go to Brussels from 10 – 15 October 2021.
Balkan Insight Fellowship 2021: Transformation – Call for entries (Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe)
Deadline: 9 April
Under the theme of ‘Transformation’, the Balkan Insight Reporting Network (BIRN) is offering 10 fellowships for journalists across Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to report on stories that “reveal something new about the world – or that reveal the familiar in a new light.”
Successful applicants will participate in a ten-month professional development programme, receive mentoring and support form BIRN’s journalistic network, including working in collaboration with BIRN editors and more, to eventually have their report published by the Network.
Podcast pitch for Nordic public media
Deadline: 9 April
Nordvision works with its member companies to strengthen the Nordic co-operation on audio content.
On April 9, there will be an online pitch session for podcast projects, with the opportunity to present the idea to the Nordic Heads of Podcast.
[Text sourced from Nordvision]
South African radio competition
Deadline: 14 April
Radio journalists from South Africa can enter a competition. The Liberty Radio Awards, sponsored by the Liberty Group, highlight the best of national and community radio talent in South Africa. The awards feature dozens of categories for both presenters and stations. Entries must have been aired in 2020 on campus, community and commercial radio stations. Podcasts and internet-only radio shows are also eligible.
Teachers’ podcasts: France Culture is calling for podcasts from teachers
Deadline: 15 April
France Culture, a media partner of education, wishes to highlight the podcast productions of teachers and thus support their dissemination and visibility through the power of its legitimacy and distribution.
Are you teachers, national education or higher education? Do you produce an educational podcast in the following disciplines: French, history, geography, philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, music, sport? This call for projects is for you.
[Text sourced from France Culture]
Health reporting training opportunity
Deadline: 15 April
The Thomson Reuter Foundation and the Global Fund will provide an online program to strengthen skills and knowledge of human rights-related barriers to health services. Journalists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria & South Africa can apply by April 15.
The program will take place online May 3 to June 7, combining live video sessions and offline work, to strengthen journalistic skills and enhance knowledge of human rights-related barriers to health services. At the end of the course, participants will pitch story ideas for the opportunity to participate in a mentoring program.
[Text sourced from IJNet]
PBS Announces Open Call for Emerging Filmmakers
Deadline: 16 April
“This initiative will further amplify the voices of diverse/BIPOC producers across public media, inviting submissions that explore a broad range of experiences, perspectives and points of view.
Whether in the early concept stages of developing a film or nearing completion with final edits, PBS will offer funding support to the top entries, determined by editorial criteria. Upon completion, selected projects may be distributed across PBS platforms such as PBS.org and PBS Digital Studios, and/or broadcast through PBS’s national and local schedules.
With this open call, PBS will elevate and fund the next generation of diverse filmmakers. This effort coincides with PBS’s continued work to support a broad coalition of multicultural media makers—such as its long-standing partnerships with ITVS, POV, World Channel, Latino Public Broadcasting, Black Public Media, Vision Maker Media, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and the Center for Asian American Media.”
Pulitzer Center’s 2021 Persephone Miel Fellowship
Deadline: 23 April
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is offering a US$5,000 grant for a project that reports on a global crisis underreported in the mainstream American media. Applications are open to journalists (staff journalists and freelancers), photographers, writers, radio producers, filmmakers, or other media professionals who reside outside the United States and Western Europe.
10 scholarships available from DW Akademie
Deadline: 30 April
DW Akademie is now accepting applications for its International Media Studies program and up to 10 full scholarships are available to applicants from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Journalists, media managers, and other communication professionals who hold a bachelor’s degree, have a good command of English and German, and have at least a year of professional experience in a media-related field can apply.
Stars4Media Call for initiatives
First deadline: 1st May 2021
Second deadline: 1st July 2021
Stars4Media has launched its second edition of its exchange and training programme for media professionals from EU countries. “Developed by the media and for the media, and co-funded by the EU, Stars4Media is supporting collaborative initiatives developed by at least two media organisations from two different EU countries. These initiatives should contribute to innovation in new editorial products and formats, emerging technologies or other innovations at the organisational level.“
BBC’s New Documentary Directors’ Initiative 2021
Deadline: 2 May 2021
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has officially opened applications for the 2021 cohort of its New Documentary Directors’ Initiative. The initiative provides four candidates with the opportunity to produce and direct their first long-form documentary for BBC Three. Contract length will coincide with the length of the production, which could range from three to five months.
Fund for Investigative Journalism Regular Grant [US Based]
Deadline: 3 May 2021
“The Fund provides grants to journalists for investigative stories that break new ground – which means they uncover wrongdoing in the public and private sectors and reveal information that was previously unknown or hidden.”
Grants can be between $5,000 and $10,000 and “cover out-of-pocket expenses such as travel, document collection and equipment rental. The Fund also considers requests for small stipends.”
Proposals written for ethnic media or from journalists of colour are encouraged to apply.
Scholarships available for journalism courses in the Netherlands [Worldwide]
Deadline: 12 May – 29 June
The Orange Knowledge Programme is offering scholarships for mid-career journalists from several developing countries to study for a short course or master’s program in the Netherlands. The scholarship will cover course fees, cost of living, visa, travel and insurance.
Applicants must be from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Colombia, Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen and Zambia.
European Cross-border Grants
Deadline: 13 May
“This awarded European Cross-Border Grant programme (running since 2009) will support professional journalists who have good ideas for cross-border investigations and for research on European topics. The stories must be relevant to European target groups.
The project should be one that, in principle, could not be realised in this format within the remit of regular journalism, and is at the same time original, innovative and intensive. Projects can include cross-border research, networking between colleagues, and established and innovative investigative methods.
Journalismfund.eu supports costs related to journalistic research for all media. This can include travel, translation, access to pay-databases or simply time to research. We do not support fixed costs such as office costs, investments such as cameras or computers or production costs.”
[Text sourced from Journalism Fund]
Call for anthology chapters: Audiovisual content for children and adolescents in the Nordics
Deadline: 15 June
This anthology invites contributions that further theories about industry notions of conducive production and distribution practices related to content for children and adolescents, and about children and adolescents’ reception or “produsage” – or both – of audiovisual content and their own notions of relevance and quality in a digital and thoroughly globalised media landscape.
Interested contributors are invited to submit a 500-word abstract and a short biography […] by 15 June 2021. Please note that all submissions will be peer-reviewed. Abstracts must clearly state the aim and objectives of the study, and the theoretical and methodological approaches contemplated in the study.
[Text sourced from Nordicom]
PLURAL+ 2021 Call for Applications
Deadline: 18 June
PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival is a joint initiative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that invites the world’s youth to submit original and creative videos focusing on the themes of migration, diversity and social inclusion.
Entrants to PLURAL+ must be at most 25 years old at the time of the production of their videos.
[Text sourced from PLURAL+]
Beyond survival? A new Human Resources research project for PMA members
Deadline: Ongoing
Our new project aims to develop people management strategies to ensure the development and growth of PSMs in the fragmented digital media landscape.
In an exciting new research project, the Public Media Alliance (PMA) has partnered with Peter Block from the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), to launch a project that will review the processes by which participating PSM’s manage the employer-employee relationship during the employment life-cycle.
The purpose is to highlight issues for the sector at large, identify common themes of staff development needs, and offer some practical recommendations for good practice to the PMA community.
BFI Young Audiences Content Fund
Deadline: Rolling
The BFI is administering a three-year pilot fund of £57 million, derived from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to help expand the children’s content industry in the UK.
The Fund seeks to support public service broadcasting content aimed at audiences under 18 with the creation and development of new programmes which include PSB values by reflecting UK identity and children’s lives (both regionally and nationally), educating and informing audiences as well as representing more diversity and alternative voices.
‘Production and development awards will contribute to the funding of programmes, shown on television and online platforms, that have public service broadcasting values in live-action and animation and across all genres.’
[Text from BFI]
Collaborative Operations and Services Grant Program [US based]
Organised by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), “The Collaborative Operations and Services (“COS”) grant program is intended to support multistation initiatives to fully develop and implement collaborations, strategic alliances and other forms of partnerships that will increase stations’ abilities and capacities to achieve more together than each can accomplish alone.
The COS will provide smaller grants to assist stations with facilitation, analysis, and research (“FAR”) required for establishing parameters for collaboration efforts (see details below), as well as larger grants for the implementation of serious collaborative efforts.”
[Text sourced from CPB]
Course on diversity in the news and newsrooms
Deadline: Ongoing
This MOOC, from the Knight Center in partnership with the Google News Initiative, provides four weekly modules from 11 January to 7 February, 2021. This instructor-led course aims to explore how diversity can transform journalism by democratising the profession from within. Over the course’s duration, participants will learn about strategies to diversify newsrooms and retain talent and tools to work on stereotypes and racial biases which may colour news coverage. You can still access this course as a self-enrolled student.
Data Journalism Grant
Deadline: Rolling
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that supports independent global journalism, is seeking applications for innovative data-driven journalism projects that spotlight under reported issues. This opportunity is open to all newsrooms and independent journalists in the United States and abroad.
[Text sourced from Pulitzer Center]
Disinformation and fact-checking in times of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish)
Online
“Aimed at journalists and communicators in general, this free training is open to anyone interested in the subject, especially journalism teachers and students. In four weeks, instructor Cristina Tardáguila will explain the origins of fact-checking in journalism and teach the tools necessary to discredit fake news in these times of pandemic.” You can still access this course as a self-enrolled student.
[Text sourced from Knight Center]
The Knight Center offers many other journalism courses. Explore them here.
Funding available for Black journalists
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) and Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund are providing two emergency funding opportunities. The Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund is designed to provide financial assistance for Black journalists who are unable to pay for mental health support. The IWMF’s United States Journalism Emergency Fund may address needs related to work, such as medical aid, destroyed or stolen equipment and protective gear; or long-term needs such as trauma, mental health services and referrals to legal support. Applicants must be working journalists and must provide proof of their financial need.
[Text sourced from IJNet]
Fund for Environmental Journalism Proposal Guidelines (US-based)
Deadline: Rolling
The 2020 Rapid Response Grants from the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) support journalism projects covering environment-related issues including climate or conservation in North America, the United States, and globally.
ICFJ Knight Fellowships
Deadline: Rolling
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is looking for outstanding journalists with a background in digital journalism, training or coaching, to work “in key areas of innovation such as newsroom transformation, entrepreneurship and business models, technology creation and adoption, diverse voices in news, investigative reporting, digital security and specialized reporting on health, gender and development.”
“Fellowships are typically a minimum of one year, and may be extended by ICFJ depending on funding and the opportunity for greater impact. Fellowship projects must produce measurable results.”
Proposals for fellowships are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year but there are other opportunities to apply for that can be found on the website.
[Text from ICFJ]
Deadline: Rolling
“The Assistance Desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) provides financial and administrative assistance to professional journalists and citizen-journalists who have been the victims of reprisals because of their reporting.” Individuals, NGOs and media outlets can apply for support.
[Text sourced from RSF]
Deadline: Ongoing
The Chilean digital magazine Puroperiodismo, is inviting journalists, developers, designers and innovators residing in Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in this project.
Media professionals who are currently exploring new technologies, approaches to reporting, developing an app or similar are encourage to talk about it in the magazine.
Entries are on an ongoing basis
International Reporting Grants
Deadline: Rolling
The Pulitzer Center’s International Reporting grants support reportage on topics of global importance. Grants are open to reporters, photographers, radio/audio journalists, television/video journalists, and documentary filmmakers. COVID-19 projects are currently being prioritised as well as other projects that can be completed in the near term without much travelling.
IWMF – Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists
The Howard G. Buffet Fund for Women Journalists, established by the International Women’s Media Foundation, provides funding to promote and advance the work of woman-identifying journalists in the news media globally. The fund accepts applications on a rolling basis. Teams of journalists may apply but the submission must be from a woman journalist and her team must include at least 50% women.
Journalism training opportunity: How can solutions journalism enhance how we report on migration?
Deadline: Throughout 2020
Are you a journalist based in the EU and covering (or interested in covering) migration?
The Local’s journalists have developed a curriculum for applying the techniques of solutions journalism to migration reporting as part of an EU-wide project, MAX (Maximising Migrants’ Contributions to Society). Funded by the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, MAX aims to expand the public narrative around immigration in Europe and highlight stories of real people who have migrated and the communities they have joined.
NPR Story Lab
Deadline: Rolling
“The NPR Story Lab is looking for great ideas. In fact, we’re an idea hub – generating new segments for our news programs, creating radio shows, and launching new podcasts. We want to collaborate with member stations and independent producers. We want to work with new talent that brings a fresh perspective to NPR. We want to keep innovating and leading in the podcast and radio world. The NPR Story Lab is a true creative studio at the heart of NPR, one that fosters experimentation and continues to evolve the sound of public radio. Tell us your ideas, and let’s make stuff!”
Are you interested in submitting your story or pitching a programme idea to America’s foremost public radio station? NPR are accepting applications on a rolling basis. Get involved via the link below.
OPEN Media Hub offers free online courses [Eastern Europe, MENA]
Deadline: Rolling
Journalists, media managers and other media professionals can take self-directed courses in English, French, Arabic and Russian. The OPEN Media Hub provides e-learning courses as a part of the support for media professionals in the countries of the European Neighborhood, including Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Topics range from media management and content production to media coverage of migration and COVID-19. All courses are free of charge and permanently open. Certificates are available to users who successfully complete them.
[Text sourced from IJNet]
Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa
Deadline: Ongoing
“OSIEA plays an active role in encouraging open, informed dialogue on issues of importance in Eastern Africa. Through a combination of grant making, advocacy and convening power, OSIEA is able to support and amplify the voices of pro-democracy organizations and individuals in the region and to strengthen their capacity to hold their governments accountable. This includes efforts to defend and support rights activists and pro-democracy advocates who come under attack for their work. ”
The eligibility criteria includes supporting projects based around media and access to information. The OSIEA is available to both organisations and individuals.
Interested grant seekers should consult the OSIEA website for more information on eligibility and application guidelines.
Pitching Investigative Documentaries – GIJN
Deadline: Rolling
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (IGJN) launched a collaborative network during a GIJN webinar. This is a platform where pitches for investigative documentaries and long-form productions about Covid-19 can be submitted and passed onto several public broadcaster production teams including BBC Africa, BBC Arabic, CBC Canada, PBS Frontline and RTS in Switzerland as well as Premières Lignes, an independent French TV production and news agency that has worked with France Télévisions.
Submit your pitch here:
Press Freedom Accountability Project grant funding [US based]
Following recent attacks on and intimidation of journalists in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is partnering with the News Leaders Association (NLA) to provide journalists with grants between $2,000 and $5,000 to “support reporting on press freedom violations and accountability.”
Rory Peck Trust Assistance Grants for Freelance Journalists
The Rory Peck Trust provides assistance to freelance journalists and their families around the world. Applicants must be able to receive a grant from a British registered charity.
Rory Peck Trust Training Fund for Freelance Journalists
The Rory Peck Training Fund provides training to freelance journalists to equip them with the essential skills and knowledge needed to work in difficult and potentially dangerous situations. The training fund is available to freelancers who have worked in newsgathering and/or current affairs for a minimum of 18 months. Priority is given to those who work in hostile environments and to those with confirmed assignments.
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grants
Deadline: Ongoing
The Pulitzer Center has published an advisory note to all new applicants in light of Covid-19. Please read here.
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting offers several ongoing grants “to support in-depth, high-impact reporting on topics of global importance, including investigations of systemic problems that are often overlooked by mainstream U.S. media.” These include the International Reporting Grant, Rainforest Journalism Fund and Bringing Stories Home: Local Reporting Grants. Freelance and staff journalists from news outlets can apply.
Find out how to apply and the other grants available via the link below:
The Self-Investigation: A free online stress management program for journalists
In partnership with the ICFJ, Open News and the Online News Association, “The self-investigation is a free online program designed to support journalists with knowledge and evidence-based practices they can use to relate to stress and digital overload in a healthier way. This is an opportunity to get access to ongoing support from professionals so you can feel more balanced and tap into your innate resilience. The English language edition will take place over four weeks in July.”
[Text sourced from The Self-Investigation]
Training: Online Courses for Media Professionals
Deadline: Ongoing
A selection of online tutorials created by the European Journalism Centre and supported by the Google News Initiative.
The diverse new set of courses include ‘Where to hire a data journalist’; ‘Python for journalists’ as well as “Google Search for Journalists”; “Verification: the basics” and “Managing Data Journalism Projects” among many others.
All courses are free and vary in difficulty. Courses can be completed at the participant’s preferred pace.
Transatlantic Media Fellowship
Deadline: Ongoing
European media representatives are invited to apply for this fellowship, which will give them the chance to travel across the United States and expand on their knowledge of America and its citizens.
Organized by the Transatlantic Media Network (TMN), the goal of this fellowship is to strengthen the existing transatlantic relationship and improving mutual understanding among journalists and media professionals of both sides of the Atlantic.
The visiting journalists will follow an individual itinerary, created on their skills and interests, which will take them mostly around Washington DC and to visit TMN’s partner institutions, such as universities and journalism schools.
The fellowships may have a different duration but they will all be up to three months.
Poynter hosts online course on trust building
Deadline: Rolling
Journalists who want to learn strategies to earn their communities’ trust can take this course.
Poynter offers the self-directed, online course “How any journalist can earn Trust.”
The training is divided into 10 modules: perceptions of news; tell your audience who you are, explain your ethics and values; transparency: why it’s important and how to do it day-to-day; building trust into beats; engaging with your audience; separate opinion content from news; connecting revenue to trust; build trust by helping people navigate the news; and next steps.
[Text sourced from IJNet]
Last updated on 9 April 2021.
If you have any suggestions for grants applications and other opportunities please email PMA at editor@publicmediaalliance.org.