Deadline: 8-Mar-22
The Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is offering reporting grants to journalists in Kenya to support the production of in-depth stories on the impacts of climate change.
In East Africa, news about the impacts of climate change is scarce, and media houses do not often have the capacity to invest financial, human, and even technological resources to generate the high-quality content that would fill the information vacuum.
To help journalists in the region to unearth these issues, highlight solutions and point out the key obstacles to climate action, Internews’ Earth Journalism Network is offering grants to ~10 journalists in Kenya to report on matters related to climate change.
Funding Information
Selected journalists will receive an average of US$800 in funding to cover travel and field reporting costs. Stories that use particularly innovative or investigative approaches that are more expensive to produce may be eligible for additional funding.
Story themes
- They welcome story ideas that focus on the short- and long-term consequences of environmental destruction and other drivers of climate change.
- They’re looking for incisive, in-depth, solutions-focused stories on climate change that put human experiences at the center of the storytelling. While the stories should be backed by scientific evidence and incorporate data in a simple and compelling way, they should focus on proven adaptations and responses to these challenges.
- Ideas should consider questions such as:
- How is climate change accelerating phenomena like droughts, scarcity of water, and human-to-wildlife conflicts, etc?
- What is the connection between climate change to health (zoonotic diseases) and other aspects of human/planet and animal life?
- In what ingenious ways are communities working to conserve their immediate environments and ecosystems to mitigate the effects of climate changes?
- How do law enforcement agencies deal with human activities that cause climate change?
- What role do policies play in promoting climate action? What are some examples of successful regulation that could serve as models for similar places?
Eligibility Criteria
- Journalists from Kenya are welcome to apply.
- Groups of journalists are eligible. However, the application must be made in the name of one lead applicant. Lead applicants are responsible for communicating with EJN and receiving funds on the group’s behalf, if awarded.
- For the purposes of this grant opportunity, they will only be accepting applications in English. Unfortunately, they do not have the capacity to consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must either have a working understanding of English or have a translator available to assist with communication with Internews staff.
- Applications are open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio) and other expert media practitioners with professional reporting experience. They welcome applications from early-career journalists and experienced reporters with a track record of covering environmental and climate issues. They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – international, national, local and community-based.
- EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct.
Judging criteria
Applicants should consider the following points when devising their story proposals.
- Relevance: Does the proposal meet the criteria and objectives of the call? Why does this story matter and to whom? Is the main idea, context and overall value to the target audience clearly defined?
- Angle: If the story has been covered, does your proposal bring new insights to the topic or offer a fresh angle?
- Impact: Does the proposal have a compelling narrative or investigative element that will inform and engage, draw attention, trigger debate and spur action?
- Innovative storytelling: The use of creative approaches, multimedia and data visualization will be considered a plus.
- Feasibility: Can the story be realistically completed within the target time frame? Is the budget realistic?
- Plan for timely publication: Reporters, whether freelance or employed at a media outlet, will need to include a letter of support from an editor in their application, committing to publish the stories by June 15, 2022.
For more information, visit https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/reporting-on-climate-change-in-kenya