The European Journalism Centre (EJC), in partnership with the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP), is pleased to announce 68 more news organisations and freelance journalists receiving grants through Wave 2 of the European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund.
Wave 1, launched in April 2020, saw €1,530,000 awarded to 94 news organisations and freelancers. In Wave 2, grantees are serving local and regional communities and communities of interest across 28 European countries. This includes countries previously represented in Wave 1, as well as 7 new countries: Albania, Czech Republic, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden.
"We are absolutely thrilled by this news. The whole Marsactu team is beyond grateful for this amazing support that is given to us through this funding. Not only is it really good and relieving news for our finances, but it is also a mark of recognition of our work that we profoundly appreciate." Marsactu, France (Wave 2 grantee)
A particular focus for Wave 2 of the Fund were journalists and publications serving underreported and/or underrepresented groups and communities. Grantees in this round of funding are working with, and serving the information needs of, geographical and communities of interest including: marginalised communities in Northern Ireland (people experiencing homelessness, and those living on low incomes); people disadvantaged through poverty, lack of education and training, unemployment, physical and mental illness and disability; asylum seekers and migrants; Roma female key workers; the LGBTIQ+ community and sex workers; senior citizens over the age of 65; BAME communities (women and non-binary people of colour) living in the UK, and more.
Through the Emergency Fund, 30 news organisations and 24 freelancers/ groups of freelance journalists are being awarded grants of €5,000, €10,000 or €25,000 to address immediate and critical business needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will be used, for example, to replace revenue from the making and distribution of printed publications or from donations / subscriptions / membership; to supplement or replace lost advertising revenue or revenue from complementary business activities, such as events; and to engage communities and their conversations within short-term COVID-19-related initiatives, such as newsletters, community groups or online events.
“The offer of support from the EJC is still sinking in and I feel really emotional. When I decided to go it alone almost ten years ago and take on Caerphilly Observer as a full-time job, I knew it would be difficult. The last seven months though has been the most challenging period of my career, but at the same time it has been one of the most rewarding. I'm often told by readers that they value what we do and this gave us the confidence to try new things with our membership programme. The funding will go a long way to help us continue our work." Caerphilly Observer, Wales, United Kingdom (Wave 2 grantee)
Through the Endurance Fund, 14 news organisations are receiving grants of €10,000 or €25,000 for specific initiatives related to pivoting their business model during the COVID-19 crisis. These grants will be used, for example, to invest in resources (including technology, toolkits, people, and experts) to: build resilience within teams and leadership, facilitate effective cross-team collaboration and sharing of knowledge, create more/better pathways for community participation in the work of the news organisation, execute user-focused product development, or develop or launch reader-revenue models.
For Wave 2 of the Fund, the EJC followed the same independent judging process used in Wave 1. The process involves three steps: an eligibility check, an appraisal from qualified experts and EJC team members, and a due diligence check. We received 842 applications for Wave 2, of which 608 were for the Emergency Fund.
Through Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund, the EJC has awarded, to date, 162 core funding grants to news organisations and freelancers in 35 countries in Europe. Since the Fund launched in April, our team has reviewed 2,699 applications across both waves of funding, and in the coming months we will publish more detailed learnings about how journalists in Europe are responding to the impact of the pandemic and adapting to serve their communities throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Case studies about some of the Wave 1 Fund grantees, explaining how they have changed their engagement strategies and pivoted their business and reporting models, are available as part of the EJC’s Resilience Reports, and the Engagement Explained newsletter:
We're thrilled to be able to support the following 68 news organisations and freelance journalists through Wave 2 of the Fund:
Albania
Droni.al (€10,000)
Austria
Gilda-Nancy Horvath (€5,000)
Michael Bonvalot (€5,000)
Augustin (€25,000)
Petkomerc doo - Radio Osvit (€10,000)
Croatia
Vedrana Simicevic (€5,000)
Czech Republic
Magdalena Sodomkova (€5,000)
France
Marsactu SAS (€25,000)
Angers.info (€5,000)
Rue89Lyon (€25,000)
Georgia
Democracy & Freedom Watch (€25,000)
Germany
The African Courier Verlag (€10,000)
Freies Radio Neumünster e.V. (€10,000)
Greece
Bercem Mordeniz (€5,000)
Ireland
David Branigan (€5,000)
Patrick Flynn (€5,000)
Italy
Alessio Perrone (€5,000)
Francesca Borri (€5,000)
Stefania Carini (€5,000)
Il Corriere della Città (€25,000)
Latvia
Staburags (€10,000)
Lithuania
Ina Silina (€5,000)
VsI "Klaipeda atvirai" (€10,000)
Luxembourg
Ara City Radio (€25,000)
Kurier Podlaski (€10,000)
Bolesławiec dla Ciebie - Bolec.Info (€10,000)
Ino-online Media Piątek Piotr (€10,000)
Portugal
Amanda Lima / Agora Europa (€5,000)
Bruno Horta (€5,000)
Reflexo (€5,000)
Romania
uh.ro (€10,000)
Serbia
Dejan Milosevic (€5,000)
Javnost Doo, Kragujevac (€10,000)
Ozon Media (€25,000)
Slovakia
Marie Vrabcová (€5,000)
Slovenia
Časoris (€10,000)
Oštro (€25,000)
Spain
Hanna Jarzabek (€5,000)
Revista 5W (€25,000)
elDiario.es Andalucia(€25,000)
elDiario.es Castilla-La Mancha (€25,000)
Sweden
Sara Assarsson (€5,000)
Switzerland
Priti Patnaik (€5,000)
Turkey
Alberto Tetta (€5,000)
Gülsin Harman (€5,000)
Hale Gönültaş (€5,000)
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Artur Conka (€5,000)
Luke Butterly (€5,000)
Joan McFadden (€5,000)
Hackney Citizen (€25,000)
The Pavement (€25,000)
YourHarlow.com (€5,000)
The Edinburgh Reporter (€10,000)
Austria
Metropole.at / Home Town Media GmbH (€25,000)
France
Disclose (€25,000)
Germany
Krautreporter (€25,000)
Italy
Associazione Culturale TuttOggi (€25,000)
Moldova
Moldova.org (€25,000)
The Netherlands
Stichting Vers Beton (€25,000)
ZwolleNu (€10,000)
Poland
Outriders (€10,000)
Romania
Asociatia Media DoR (€25,000)
Spain
La Voz de Alcalá (€25,000)
Datadista (€25,000)
United Kingdom
Caerphilly Media Ltd (€10,000)
The Ferret (€25,000)
gal-dem (€25,000)
In the coming weeks, we will update the Grantee section on the Fund website with more information about what the news organisations and freelancers selected through Wave 2 are using the grant funding for.
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