European Fund for Investigative Journalism

RULES FOR APPLICATION

Journalists who have a good idea for an investigative story and need money for the research can apply for a research grant

Please check this list before you apply:
Do you have a lead to a good story but need economic support to realise it?
Is your story important for readers / listeners / viewers in Europe?
Do you intend to cooperate with journalists from other European countries and do you intend to publish your story in at least two EU- and/or EFTA-countries? OR do you intend to publish your story to a national and a European audience, for example for a national newspaper and via one of news media targeting the European community (se some indicative examples of relevant news media among the lists of this wiki-page on European Media)? If you are a journalist from other parts of the world or with another focus and thus can not apply to this grant, do have a look at our overview over other journalism research grants.
Do you intend to publish in media that reach a broad and /or highly relevant audience?
Do you plan a story of investigative character and which brings significant new information to the audience?

If you can answer yes to the above, please proceed and look at the following rules for application:
Journalismfund supports journalists, who work in teams across borders in order to safeguard the best knowledge of the country and the target group. The idea is to pool research power and expertise to create stronger cross-border and European affairs stories. Teams must consist of minimum two persons in two different EU/EFTA countries. One-person applications can be accepted but are the exception, in such cases the story idea must be very convincing and maintain a clearly European character, for example focus on EU policies, European policy making, spending of EU money and so on.
Stories must be published in at least two, preferably more EU/EFTA countries in order to safeguard the impact of the story. For one-person research, the story must be published in one EU/EFTA country and in a media targeting an EU-target group like the Brussels EU community.
All proposals have to be submitted following the instructions on our website. Reception will be confirmed by e-mail. Calls for proposals will be announced to all subscribers of our newsletter as well as via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Additional documentation and information may be requested by Journalismfund.eu.
Only natural persons are eligible for a work grant.
Applicants must be working as professional journalists.
The applicant must explain convincingly that it would not be possible to realise the project without a work grant.
References from individuals (editors, publishers, journalists, professors) and/or references to earlier work are essential. Journalismfund.eu reserves the right to contact references (while respecting the confidentiality of the proposal, see below).
The applicant must be able to demonstrate the feasibility of the project via a credible research plan.
A basic commitment to take on the product on the part of media in at least two European countries is a condition for the award of the work grant requested. You can use the sample letter. (rtf, 37 KB)

Applications can be turned down on grounds of budget.
Journalismfund.eu supports costs related to the actual research, but neither supports fixed costs of the applicants nor costs in connection with publication.
The applicant(s) must be prepared to give an explanation of his/her product in person, if required by the Fund or the Jury.
Both the Fund and the Jury are bound to strict confidentiality - before, during and after evaluation of the proposals.
The grantee(s) agree(s) on mentioning the Fund when the journalistic product(s) supported by the grant is (are) published.
Recipients of a work grant undertake to report regularly to the Fund on the progress of the project.
The Fund reserves the right to publish in part, in whole or as a reference the final product on its website or in its publications.
Grantees accept to present reports of their research and to share their experience with colleagues.