Deadline: 13-Jul-21
The Earth Journalism Network is offering reporting grants to journalists to support the production of in-depth stories that will call attention to fisheries subsidies issues, both at a large and small scale.
Every year, governments around the world spend US$22 billion on subsidies for the fishing industry – disbursing funds for gear, operating costs, upgrades, construction projects and more.
As fishing vessels become more efficient and technologically advanced with the help of these subsidies, they catch increasingly large numbers of fish – more fish than the ocean can replenish.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that a third of fish stocks are currently fished at unsustainable levels.
This not only affects the biodiversity of the ocean, but also has an outsize impact on small-scale fishers in coastal and island communities who rely on their fish catch to support their families.
Story themes
- They welcome any story ideas on fisheries subsidies, including their links to overfishing and the depletion of fish stocks, their impact on small-scale fishers and livelihoods in coastal communities, the potential policy solutions governments could implement and more.
- Proposals that focus on topics or stories that have not been widely covered are preferred. Issues that have already received a lot of media coverage or don’t provide unique angles to environmental challenges are less likely to be selected.
Funding Information
- They expect to award 20 grants with an average budget of around $1,000, depending on the proposal and needs outlined in the budget submission.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants can be from any country in the world, and a few grants will be given out to journalists working on fisheries subsidies issues globally, but preference will be given to journalists reporting from the regions that are the key focus of this project. They are: India, the Caribbean, West Africa, Southern Africa and Japan.
- For the purposes of this grant opportunity, they are accepting applications in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. They have selected these languages because of their staff capacity and these languages’ ability to be machine translated effectively. Applications written in a language other than these will not be considered. Applicants should 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 investigative reporting experience and a history of covering environmental issues. They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – international, national, local and community-based.
- They are seeking to support both early-career and senior journalists with many years of reporting experience. They’ll accept both individual and group applications, but for the latter they ask that the application is made in the name of one lead applicant who will receive the grant on the group’s behalf, if awarded.
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 urge action?
- Innovative storytelling: The use of creative approaches, multimedia and data visualisation will be considered a plus.
For more information, visit https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/fisheries-subsidies-story-grants-round-2