WB6 Media: Support to Media Freedom and Pluralism in the Western Balkans

The project is co-funded by the European Union and the German Government, and implemented by GIZ, in collaboration with Internews and DW Akademie.

Objectives 

• Goal
  • Enhance the cooperation between media actors, tech companies and innovative business entities, aiming to strengthen the media sector through networking, regional exchange, and cross sectoral collaboration.
• Specific Objectives
  • Incentivize collaborative approaches and partnerships between media organizations in the region and beyond, stretching from content co-production and mutual dissemination to practicalities relevant for running a media organisation.
  • Support networking, sharing and exchange of knowledge, information, resources, and reporting sources among media outlets.
  • Initiate and enhance cross-sectoral cooperation between media outlets and actors from the digital ecosystem to develop or introduce new formats and tools.
  • Develop further the digital and technological capacities of independent media organizations.
• Target
  • Independent media organisations, national and local media outlets, other media actors from WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Areas of Interventions

• The proposal may include one or more from the following areas of interventions (but not limited to):
  • Local and regional collaboration initiatives between media organizations:
    • Set up of local or regional collaborative mechanisms and tools that would enable collaboration in a systemic way between two or more media organizations. These collaborations can focus on the development of content exchange systems, introduction of innovative cooperation mechanisms, development of innovative formats and practicalities relevant for running a media outlet (e.g., common procurement of IT services, bookkeeping, sharing of equipment, etc.).
    • Establish/consolidate further new platforms and tools by two or more media organizations serving as a hub for quality journalism on issues of specific interest for different communities.
    • Produce and disseminate jointly, multimedia content addressing a specific topic with joint public interest (two or more media outlets coming from at least two different countries of WBs).
    • Initiate new or consolidate further networks or coalitions between media organizations within one country or cross-regionally.
    • Establish connection and exchange of know how and/or content with media organizations beyond the Western Balkans.
  • Media and non-media collaboration (IT sector, business, visual art, etc.)
    • Initiate partnerships and cooperation between media organizations and stakeholders from broader multimedia and digital ecosystem (such as: innovative startups; game developers; programmers; other tech companies; artists; designers; filmmakers; innovative private businesses, etc.) to pilot collaborative platforms and mechanisms to:
      • create and distribute engaging media content.
      • collect information, data and evidence from the citizens that would feed the reporting.
      • monetise media content or explore other crowd sourced funding.
      • reach new and wider audiences and engage with them across multiple platforms.
      • pilot new or develop further sustainable business models.
      • introduce new technological trends to the media operations.

Funding Information

• The maximum grant amount per grantee will be up to 25,000 EUR and will be paid in tranches, depending on the delivery of the outputs and the achievement of the expected results.
• Grant Duration: up to 1 year.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant should be established and operating in one of the Western Balkans economies.
• Status of applicant: Independent private sector media company or non-for-profit media outlet/NGO from the Western Balkans.
• Public broadcasters and state-controlled media are not eligible.
• Proven commitment to professional and ethical standards of journalism (e.g. through membership in press councils; adherence or compliance with other relevant recognized mechanisms, platforms, etc. established to promote professional and ethical standards in journalism).
• Transparent ownership and/or composition, with no involvement of state or state-affiliated entities; nor of senior political actors or their close relatives.

For more information, visit GIZ.