The European Cross-Border Grant Programme was established to tackle the lack of independent journalism in Europe by providing funding to investigative journalism projects and promoting collaboration across borders. This initiative, which has been running since 2009, supports cross-border teams of journalists and news outlets with innovative and in-depth ideas for investigations on European topics that are of interest to European audiences.
The grant budget for 2024 totals €900,000 to be distributed across four application rounds, with €225,000 available per call. The funding can cover costs related to journalists’ working time, as well as direct expenses such as travel, accommodation, translation, and legal screening, among others. However, certain expenses like overhead, production costs, and non-research-related items are not covered by the grants.
Eligibility criteria require cross-border investigative teams to include at least two journalists or media outlets from different countries, with a focus on projects that offer significant news value, originality, and depth. The applicants must be professional freelance journalists or media outlets, with a track record of journalistic work. Projects must be published by at least two professional news outlets in different European countries.
Assessment criteria for project proposals include factors such as the added value compared to mainstream coverage, societal relevance, newsworthiness, research quality, feasibility, team experience, and the cross-border aspect. Diversity in terms of region, topics, team composition, methods, and publication forms is also considered during the evaluation process.
The applications are reviewed by an independent jury of investigative journalism experts, selected by Journalismfund Europe. Strict confidentiality is maintained throughout the evaluation process, and the jury members’ identities are kept confidential until the end of their mandate. For more details, interested parties can visit the Journalismfund Europe website.
Source: fundsformedia.fundsforngos.org…
