Deadline: 21 February 2020
Internews’ Earth Journalism Network is offering grants to at least 10 journalists based in eastern India and coastal Bangladesh to report on critical issues related to climate change that are driving notable responses. The grants will support the production of in-depth stories tied to resilience and climate change adaptation, particularly among 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.
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 the climate crisis, as well as the limitations of certain responses and their ability to set examples for other parts of the world.
The story grants are provided as part of EJN’s Bay of Bengal project, implemented by Internews with generous funding from the Climate Justice Resilience Fund.
Funding Information
If selected, journalists will receive an average of US$1,300 in funding to cover travel and field reporting costs, with some flexibility for in-depth stories using innovative and investigative approaches that may be more costly to produce.
Story Themes
Ideas should focus on how people in the Bay of Bengal region are responding to climate change by asking questions such as:
- How are early-warning systems and disaster mitigation being adapted to account for climate change and increasingly severe weather?
- How are planting techniques and seed varieties being made more resilient to things like drought?
- How are people with disabilities affected by and responding to climate change?
- What impact is a warming world having on human health or wildlife populations?
- How are people who have migrated to avoid climate change’s effects – particularly fishing communities – adjusting? What do their lives look like now?
- Who are the female champions promoting conservation or adaptation?
EJN encourages 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.
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 or 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.
- EJN encourages 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; applicants for long-form and multimedia narratives should include plans and budget for accompanying multimedia elements (i.e. video, photos) and distribution channels in their pitch.
Please note that EJN, its partners and the Climate Justice Resilience Fund have the right to edit, publish, broadcast and distribute these stories freely, once they have been published/broadcast in the original media outlet. Freelance reporters should demonstrate a plan for publication and provide a letter of interest from an editor.
For more information, visit https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/reporting-on-climate-change-adaptation-in-the-bay-of-bengal