Deadline: 30-Oct-20
Press On is launching the Southern Movement Media Fund to Southern media makers and journalists practicing movement journalism — providing support to work alongside their communities, with each other, and with movement partners, to co-create the conditions needed for a quality life.
By providing a diverse set of resources including trainings, fellowships and opportunities for network-building, Press On aims to help journalists and storytellers produce reporting that’s driven by communities that are building power to create transformative social change.
The first two rounds of this fund will focus on documenting, reporting, and archiving the historic 2020 election, uprisings, and coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of marginalized and oppressed people in the South.
They are currently accepting applications for funding for news and media production during and after the 2020 election. They are interested in projects including but not limited to:
- creative approaches to art activism and/or election engagement;
- cultural organizing efforts that include media production;
- efforts to archive, document, and spread the word about social movements;
- reporting on protest, uprisings, and social action;
- reporting on the impact of COVID-19 on voting access, mobilization efforts, education, work, food security, and health care access;
- reporting on voter disenfranchisement and obstacles to electoral participation;
- journalistic collaborations with social and racial justice organizations
Funding Information
- Applications will be accepted for requests for grants of $5,000 for individuals and $15,000 for organizations.
Outcomes
- Increased capacity for Southern media organizations and freelance media makers through funding support;
- Increased capacity for partnerships between journalists and Southern movement organizers;
- Targeted news and information to/for marginalized and oppressed communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grants may be requested by media organizations and individual media makers based in and reporting in one of the following 14 states: Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Georgia.
- Organizations that apply must be based in the South. While they will consider applications from individual reporters based in the South who are publishing stories with a national outlet, they will not consider applications from national outlets directly.
- Organizations that apply may be 501(c)3, fiscally sponsored projects, for-profit organizations, or unincorporated collectives or projects.
- Submissions will be prioritized based on the following criteria:
- Organizations and individuals pursuing creative approaches to documenting, archiving, and reporting on the 2020 election and the period to follow;
- Publishers and platforms who are serving and need resources for coverage focused on and/or for oppressed communities;
- Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, femme, trans, and gender non-conforming folks, immigrants and children of immigrants, and folks living in rural communities and urban areas underserved by local news and information;
- Priority is given to community organizers and organizations, collectives, independent media, and freelance reporters;
- Organizations and individuals working in collaboration or partnership with Southern movement and community organizations.
For more information, visit https://www.presson.media/grants/