Grants of up to $15,000 for Journalists Covering Global Biodiversity

As a part of the Earth Journalism Network’s Biodiversity Media Initiative project, EJN announced a new round of grant opportunities for journalist networks, media organizations, civil society organizations, or academic institutions that are working to improve media coverage of biodiversity and conservation issues in countries where the need is often the greatest and the pool of available resources is limited.

Eligible Projects:

The Biodiversity Media Grant will support projects that generally focus on training and capacity building, with flexible spending guidelines that enable local networks to invest in strategic opportunities, build the capacities of their members, and respond to communities’ needs. 

Projects funded by this grant should build awareness of the threats to biodiversity and conservation-based solutions by spreading quality news and information, with a focus on audiences in lower- and middle-income countries. Projects should also build the capacity of journalists and communicators to report on threats to biodiversity and on conservation-based solutions, by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. 

The Biodiversity Media Grants will support projects that: 

• Build the capacity of journalism networks and media organizations to report on biodiversity and conservation issues.
• Carry out biodiversity and/or conservation training activities for journalists.
• Build internal capacity.
• Organize local networks around these issues.

EJN is especially interested in projects that focus on conservation in biodiversity-rich regions of the world, such as the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. 

Eligibility:

This opportunity is open to journalist networks, media organizations, civil society organizations, or academic institutions. Although EJN will consider applications by NGOs or environmental groups looking to build the capacity of journalists to cover conservation issues, preference will be given to applications from or affiliated with professional journalists, media organizations, journalism schools, and the like. 

Grant Amount:

This grant fund has US$48,000 available for awards this year, which EJN would ideally share among three to five projects. Although applications for funding of any amount within this total will be considered, EJN would expect the average grant size to be between $10,000 and $15,000, with potentially a greater share of the total going to projects that demonstrate a critical need.  

Selection Process:

Grants will be awarded competitively by a panel of judges, consisting of Internews staff and experts in environmental reporting. Following a first-round review, potential grantees will be shortlisted. The jury may interview shortlisted applicants to seek further information on the proposed activity. The jury will then reconvene again after the interviews to make a final selection of the grantees. 

The jury evaluates all eligible applications in a comparative context and makes funding decisions based on the availability of funds, the program objectives, and the following assessment criteria: 

• the overall quality of the proposal; 
• the relevance of the proposed project in contributing to the objectives and priorities of this grant program; 
• the potential impact of the proposed project, including the quality and effectiveness of the project design; 
• the financial viability and cost-effectiveness of the proposed activity; 
• the ability of the applicant to carry it out.

About  Earth Journalism Network:

Internews initially developed the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) in 2004 to enable journalists from developing countries to cover the environment more effectively. EJN is now a truly global network working with reporters and media outlets in virtually every region of the world. In its mission to improve the quantity and quality of environmental reporting, EJN trains journalists to cover a wide variety of issues develops innovative online environmental news sites and produces content for local media – including ground-breaking investigative reports.

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