EJN: Supporting Coverage of Non-Economic Loss and Damage on the Bay of Bengal Coast (Banglasdesh and India)

Theme

• They welcome proposals that seek to robustly examine specific aspects of NELD and/or resilience of communities facing these challenges. They especially encourage proposals that focus on women, marginalized communities and youth. They seek to support reports that will drive conversation and make an impact among communities and policymakers at the local, national and regional levels. Issues that have already received a lot of media coverage or don’t provide unique angles to environmental or climate challenges are less likely to be selected.

Funding Information

• Selected applicants will be provided support of up to INR 90,000 or BDT 1.25 lakh each and 1:1 editorial mentorship to produce rigorous and impactful reports.

Eligibility Criteria

• Communicators reporting from coastal Bangladesh and coastal areas of four Indian states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are eligible to apply.
• Groups of communicators are eligible. However, the application must be made in the name of one lead applicant. Lead applicants are responsible for communicating with EJN and receiving funds on the group’s behalf, if awarded.
• Applications can be submitted in English, Bangla, Odiya, Telugu or Tamil. Applications to produce text, video and audio reports are all welcome but the budget ceiling will remain the same.
• They welcome applications from early-career and experienced communicators with a track record of environmental issues. Women, Indigenous communicators and communicators from marginalized communities are especially encouraged to apply. They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from international, national, local or community-based print or online outlets.

Ineligibility Criteria

• They are not looking for:
  • Reports that prescribe or advocate for a particular response.
  • Reports that profile a particular person or organization and/or highlight solutions that are implemented by an individual rather than a collective.
  • Reports that report “good news” in an uncritical or overly optimistic way.
  • Reports that are self-published in blogs or newsletters.
  • Reports that are produced for civil society organizations or public relations purposes.

Judging Criteria

• Applicants should consider the following judging criteria when devising their proposals:
  • Relevance: Does the proposal meet the criteria and objectives of the call? Why does this report matter and to whom? Is the main idea, context and overall value to the target audience clearly defined?
  • Objectivity: Is the proposed report likely to be balanced and objective? Communicators should take care that proposed sources represent (or at the very least, invite comment from) a diversity of stakeholders and perspectives: communities, scientists and researchers, policy experts and government officials and industry spokespersons.
  • Angle: If the report has been covered, does your proposal bring new insights to the topic or offer a fresh angle?
  • Impact: Does the proposal have a compelling narrative or investigative element that will inform and engage, draw attention, trigger debate and urge action?
  • Innovative reports: The use of creative approaches and data visualization will be considered a plus.
  • Outlet: They encourage selected fellows to ensure their grant-supported reports are freely accessible to the public. If their outlet publishes behind a paywall, they ask that the paywall be dropped for a limited time, or a gift link be shared for wider distribution. This ensures the information remains accessible to the wider public and helps achieve broader audience engagement.
  • Plan for timely publication: Communicators, whether freelance or employed at a media outlet, will need to include a letter of support from an editor in their application, committing to publish their reports by July 31, 2025.

For more information, visit Earth Journalism Network.