Deadline: 18-Apr-22
The Amazon Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) and the Pulitzer Center are opening a new, special call for grant applications. Journalists, editors, and independent media organizations are invited to submit a proposals on the impact of Brazil’s elections on the Amazon rainforest.
The projects should consider the intersection of upcoming elections for president and Congress and their impacts on deforestation, and other critical issues in the region. They might consider how congressional decisions are influencing local actions; they could look at the conduct of campaigns in the region, or investigate how the prospect of a change of power is affecting the situation on the ground. They could focus on conservation, Indigenous communities, illegal mining, land grabs, regulation, or environmental crime.
The projects should highlight local voices and have a strong distribution plan that must include a credible project for broad dissemination in influential local and/or regional news media (can be print, online and/or broadcast, or a combination). The plan must include commitment letters from interested editors and publishers working in the news media outlets they propose.
Funding Information
Funding Up to US $10,000 maximum award amount for these grants, but depending on project specifics, it may be higher. Budgets can include, for example:
- Compensation for local journalists;
- Cost of project coordination/management;
- Travel and lodging;
- Data analysis and visualizations;
For approved projects, half of the grant amount is generally paid just before the reporting, and the remainder is delivered upon submission of the principal material for publication or broadcast. Specific grant terms are negotiated during the application process.
Criteria for Proposals
- Proposed Projects Should:
- Involve collaboration. This could include local and/or Indigenous journalists, or domestic-international media partnerships;
- Have strong, extensive and wide distribution;
- Demonstrate attention to editing, reporting, and safety standards (for example, avoiding unnecessary travel and implementing preventive health measures for journalists and communities);
- Utilize innovative reporting techniques, such as data journalism and multimedia engagement, to build strong stories with minimal pandemic and safety risk to sources.
- Projects involving collaborations (such as between national and/or Indigenous journalists, or between domestic-international media partnerships) will get extra consideration, though projects by solo journalists or single media outlets are acceptable.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grants are open to journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers, and filmmakers. Staff journalists, as well as freelancers of any nationality, are eligible to apply.
- Newsrooms or teams may also apply—the team lead should be the main applicant.
For more information, visit https://rainforestjournalismfund.org/special-call-proposals-impact-brazilian-elections-amazon