Second Call 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.

Categories

• 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

Benefits

• Four-day online training on audience engagement.
• Mentoring throughout the project.
• Access to a digital tool to enhance audience engagement.

Funding Information

• Individual Grants
  • Maximum Amount per Grant: €4,000
  • Estimated Amount: €16,000
• Cross-border Grants
  • Maximum Amount per Grant: €8,000
  • Estimated Amount: €8,000

Expected Outcomes

• 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

Eligible Costs

• Human Resources Costs
• Production/Research/Communication Costs
• Travel Costs

Ineligible Costs

• Include costs of office equipment
• Construction costs
• Entertainment
• Excessive transport
• Event costs

Eligible Activities

• Producing the content based on information and data obtained via the audience-engaged tool.
• Promoting content through social media channels of the respective outlets.
• Promoting engagement journalism and the audience-engaged tool by introducing dedicated sections on the website, additional information in the ‘about’ and ‘contact’ section, banners, and other relevant means.
• Encouraging citizens to use the audience-engaged tool as a platform to suggest topics, indicate interest in future reporting and participate in various investigations.
• Collaborating with a mentor to prepare a story for Balkan Insight. The most successful engagement stories will be considered for publication on the Balkan Insight.

Eligibility Criteria

• Media outlets from the following 10 Balkan and Visegrad countries may apply: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.
• 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:
  • If applying for an individual grant, the proposed story must address an issue relevant to the national/regional/local audience.
  • If applying for a cross-border grant, the proposed story must address an issue relevant to audiences in Balkan and Visegrad countries, and reflect collaborative effort.
• 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.
• Be able to provide supporting documentation.
• 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.

For more information, visit BIRN.