Deadline: 28-Apr-22
The NZ on Air has announced the call for Public Interest Journalism Fund applications to provide targeted, short to medium-term support for public interest journalism.
NZ On Air will fund public interest journalism through a three-year package designed to support ‘at risk’ journalism.
Pillars
The three funding pillars of the PIJF are:
- Projects – for tightly defined projects delivered to a deadline, similar to those funded via the NZ Media Fund Factual stream
- Roles – supporting newsrooms for the employment of journalists, clearly tied to content outcomes and targeted roles which, while not content producing, support the production of PIJ
- Industry Development – An increased provision of PIJ will require growth within the journalism workforce and increased sector capability. Industry Development funding will also support projects that could include:
- Training and development roles and programmes
- Cadetships and internships
- Sector collaboration and discussion
- Staff Te Tiriti education
- Recruitment initiatives
Goals
The Public Interest Journalism Fund must achieve all of these things:
- Seek to inform and engage the public about issues that affect a person’s right to flourish within the society and impact on society’s ability to fully support its citizens.
- Provide accurate, accountable, and fair coverage that reflects and empowers all sectors of the community upholding the public’s right to know.
- Actively promote the principles of Partnership, Participation and Active Protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi acknowledging Māori as a Te Tiriti partner.
- Reflect the cultural diversity of New Zealand.
- Encourage a robust and sustainable media sector.
Funding Information
The $55m fund is split across three years:
- $10m for 2020/21
- $25m in 2021/22
- $20m in 2022/23
Eligibility Criteria
- The fund is open to all NZ media entities: from large organisations through to small, local entities, and Māori, Pacific and ethnic media. Organisations must show their projects fill a public interest service and would otherwise be at risk or not produced without this fund’s support. This may include (and is not limited to) investigative journalism, data journalism and photo journalism.
- The Public Interest Journalism initiative also provides transitional support to media organisations as the sector evolves in a way that ensures the longer-term sustainability of New Zealand’s media.
For more information, visit https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/funding/journalism-funding/