Deadline: 30-Nov-20
Internews’ Earth Journalism Network is offering small grants to journalists based in eastern India and coastal Bangladesh to report on how the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are impacting efforts to address climate change and build resilience.
The grants will support the production of in-depth stories relating to people or groups most at risk from global warming. The focus should be on improving access to quality information and raising awareness among policymakers and impacted communities.
The Bay of Bengal is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable regions to the immediate- and long-term effects of a changing climate. This vulnerability stems from the wide variety of climate risks as well as the density and diversity of the roughly 400 million people who call this region home.
These grants will support the production of rigorously reported, innovative stories aimed at better informing these at-risk communities of the tools that can help them build resilience in the face of dual health and climate crises. They’ll also explore the limitations of certain responses and how the world is preparing to handle the threat of compound disasters in the future.
They encourage applicants to collect data and use it in their reporting and to highlight examples of responses that could be scaled up or used as models for other places facing similar challenges. Stories that report on solutions and coping strategies rather than problems are of particular interest.
They encourage reporters to view this not just as an environmental story and to think outside their beat, considering ways their reporting could address broader angles. They also encourage the use of multimedia. If you plan on including multiple formats in your reporting, such as audio, text and/or visualizations please provide a detailed outline and budget for accompanying multimedia elements.
Themes
Ideas should focus on how people in the Bay of Bengal region are responding to climate change by asking questions such as:
- What impact is a warming world having on human health or wildlife populations?
- How has government priorities changed during the Covid-19 pandemic? Are efforts to combat climate and environmental change backsliding?
- What effect is the pandemic having on climate-driven migration?
- Is a “green recovery,” one that would work to rebuild local and national economies through environmentally friendly initiatives, possible?
- How prepared are places to deal with compound disasters?
Funding Information
- Journalists will receive an average of US$500 to cover costs associated with this type of in-depth reporting.
Eligibility Criteria
Grants are open to early- or mid-career journalists:
- Working in the coastal regions of four Indian states (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal), and coastal areas of Bangladesh.
- Producing stories for digital, print, audio or broadcast. Stories can be done in English or local languages, or both. If applicants intend to write or produce stories in local languages, the English translation of the product should be provided.
- With a track record of reporting on the environment or climate change.
- From all types of media outlets – both large and small, freelancers and staff reporters.
- From international, national, local and community-based media — though preference will be given to applicants whose media outlets have a significant portion of their audience in the coastal regions
For more information, visit https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/how-climate-change-and-covid-19-are-impacting-the-bay-of-bengal
