Deadline: 15 June 2020
The U.S. Consulate General Karachi Public Affairs Section (PAS Karachi) is pleased to announce an open competition for one assistance award through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), contingent on funding availability, through the Public Diplomacy Grants Program.
The project will train Pakistani journalists in skills that will contribute to their professional success and provide greater financial stability and independence. Leveraging both business and technical skills, the grantee will help journalists become a one-stop shop for producing comprehensive reporting as well as build and promote their brands. Programs will take place primarily in the main media hubs of Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
Project Goal: Over 12 months, the grantee will design and execute a hands-on, skills-based training program — to be presented in the form of interactive workshops throughout Pakistan — to improve Pakistani journalists’ competency and technical skills in writing, shooting, editing and publishing content for their desired audience. Workshops will also focus on building a brand and identifying their audience. The training program should include a culminating project by each participant demonstrating a portfolio of developed, edited, and taped stories of broadcast quality, using industry standard techniques. As part of the funding, the grantee should solicit Pakistani and American experts working in the following fields: new media innovation and digital entrepreneurship, online content writing, and/or media entrepreneurs who have launched successful new media start-ups. By the end of the workshop, journalists should be able to create and distribute content online from which they can furnish or significantly supplement their income, thereby reducing the need dependency on government-sponsored advertising.
Objectives
- Increase in journalists’ autonomy and income streams by fully producing their own media products and stories.
- Increase journalists’ ability to produce unbiased, nuanced reporting for their target audiences.
- Increase journalists’ confidence to launch online brands, contributing to the freedom and diversity of the media landscape.
Funding Information
- The award floor is $200,000; the award ceiling is $250,000.
- All award activities should be completed within 12 months of the award start date.
Participants and Audiences
The target audience includes male and female electronic and broadcast journalists, bloggers and digital media managers from across Pakistan. The selected grantee should strive for at least 50% female participants. Each workshop will train a minimum of fifteen (15) journalists, selected based on their applications by the implementing partner and the U.S. Mission to Pakistan press team. Regional diversity will be a factor in choosing participants. Final participant list must be approved by U.S. Mission Pakistani Public Affairs, including alternate candidates.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligibility is open to international and Pakistan-based non-profit organizations. Organizations may sub-award or sub-contract with other entities, but only one non-profit organization can be the prime recipient of the award. Pakistan government entities are not eligible to apply.
- For-profit entities are not eligible to be the prime recipient of an award under this NOFO. When subawarding or sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal. The applicants must submit proof of their non-profit status with their proposal submission (e.g. proof of 501(c) (3) status, Pakistan NGO license).
- Applications that do not include proof of non-profit status will not be considered for an award. Individuals are not eligible for an award under this NOFO. U.S.-based or registered organizations should provide proof of registration to operate in Pakistan or have a documented agreement with a partner organization registered to operate in Pakistan.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326656