The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is pleased to announce the extension of the call for applications for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants. This program is designed to support journalists from Visegrad and Balkan newsrooms who aspire to create next-level investigative reports by actively engaging with their audiences through an innovative digital tool.
The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants provide funding, training, and mentoring opportunities for ten (10) media outlets across the following European countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, and Slovakia.
These grants are part of the Media Innovation Europe project, led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) in collaboration with Thomson Media (TM) in Berlin, the Media Development Foundation (MDF) in Kyiv, and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in Sarajevo.
Through this program, BIRN aims to empower media outlets to produce impactful and audience-engaged stories that tackle pressing issues within their communities. Successful applicants will receive the necessary resources to create individual or cross-border audience-engaged stories.
Grant Opportunities:
BIRN will award €4,000 to two (2) successful applicants who are interested in producing individual audience-engaged investigative stories.
BIRN will grant €5,000 to eight (8) successful applicants who are interested in producing a cross-border audience-engaged story. In cases where a media outlet already has a media partner for a cross-border story, they may apply together and be eligible for a grant of €10,000 to cover expenses for both parties.
BIRN encourages participants to collaborate and share knowledge to create compelling stories that are relevant and impactful for their audiences. The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants foster a collaborative environment in which media outlets can come together to share their proficiency and expertise. By working together, media outlets not only enhance their reporting capabilities but also increase their reach and impact.
Who will be supported?
Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants support media outlets that want to engage their audiences in reporting by providing them with training and mentorship in engagement journalism and usage of the Audience-Engaged Tool developed by BIRN.
The Audience-Engaged Tool is an innovative platform that harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to uncover crucial information and untold stories. The online tool enables the direct engagement of many citizens interested in sharing information and evidence related to issues they are facing.
In a four-day online training course, the participating media outlets will learn: how to use the tool to produce engaging and investigative reports; how to select engaging topics; how to develop a callout; how to analyse crowdsourced data; how to incorporate data into stories; and how to shape their story proposal according to audience-engaged journalism.
All participants will gain access to the tool and have a mentor assigned to lead them through the project.
How to apply?
Send us a story proposal in application form before July 10, 2023, following this link.
Before submitting an application, don’t forget to read important information in the call for applications.
More questions?
Write to the project coordinator at [email protected].
Follow BIRN on Facebook and Twitter.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commision. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
