Deadline: 15-Jul-21
The U.S. Embassy Dushanbe Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the 2022-2023 English for Journalists Program.
This program supports the development of Tajikistan’s media environment and digital journalism capabilities through English language learning.
Project Goal
- Improve and diversify Tajikistan’s media environment, access to credible sources of information, and ability to push back against malign information by improving the English language proficiency of journalists.
Project Objectives
Successful proposals would achieve one or more of the following objectives:
Objective 1: Journalists will improve their speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills in English.
Objective 2: Journalists will improve their critical thinking skills, public speaking, investigative journalism skills, and media literacy by participating in activities with English as the language of instruction.
Objective 3: Aspiring young journalists will establish regional collaboration among professional journalists and journalism students by attending virtual summer English language camps.
Objective 4: Journalists will learn how to recognize, respond to, and combat disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda in the news and on the internet through English language learning.
Funding Information
- Estimated Award Ceiling: $130,000
- Estimated Award Floor: $20,000
The U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section (PAS) in Dushanbe is soliciting proposals for English for Journalists Program from Tajikistan’s accredited schools, institutes, teacher training centers, universities, or non-profit organizations based in Tajikistan that focus on the priority areas specified below.
Applicants should pay close attention to the Public Affairs Section’s goals, priority program areas, and target audiences when developing their proposals.
Current Situation & Problem Statement:
- Journalists in Tajikistan generally lack the ability to cover stories in English as the capacity of English language knowledge is low.
- Due to this, most journalists are not able to access accurate sources of information that will allow them to recognize, respond to, and combat disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda in the news and on the internet.
- Additionally, many journalists miss out on opportunities to learn skills in high quality field reporting through studying the most prestigious international sources of information, or adequately cover international stories.
Review of Past Projects
- The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe previously supported English for Journalists projects that trained hundreds of journalists and bloggers, which increased the professional skills of professional journalists; increased their ability to read and write stories in English, strengthened the investigative journalism skills of media professionals; and trained journalists on new techniques and approaches to make the transition to digital journalism.
Proposed Project Introduction
- This funding opportunity seeks to provide an opportunity for journalists to gain English language skills to access English language news sources, write articles in English, and conduct interviews and reports in English.
- During the course, journalists will also become familiar with international standards of journalism ethics.
- There are many talented journalists and university students specializing in journalism, and participation in English courses will increase their professional skills and educate them on how to recognize, respond to, and combat disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda in the news and on the internet.
Project Audience(s)
- The primary target audience for these projects should be media professionals, including at least 210 journalists living in Tajikistan with limited or no English language background, managers, editors, and translators of media outlets, university students specializing in journalism, and social media influencers who are committed to engaging on social issues in English.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations
- For-profit organizations
- Civil society/non-governmental organizations
- Educational institutions
- For this announcement, only Tajikistan-based organizations are eligible to apply.
- Organizations may sub-contract with other entities, but only one, non-profit, non-governmental entity can be the prime recipient of the award. When sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=333924