Deadline: June 15, 2017
Applications are open for the Right Livelihood Award 2017. With shrinking media budgets around the world, many newsworthy stories on real solutions to global challenges are often missing out on being reported. More than 160 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, provide fertile ground for such stories. In 2017, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation is launching a small grant scheme to support impartial and high-quality reporting on the work of ‘Alternative Nobel’ Laureates and, in doing so, put the spotlight on the issues that matter.
The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to “honour and support courageous people and organisations offering visionary and exemplary solutions to the root causes of global problems”. It has become widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ and there are now 166 Laureates from 68 countries. Presented annually in Stockholm, the Right Livelihood Award is usually shared by four Recipients. The prize money shared by all Laureates is SEK 3 million (2016) but not always all Laureates receive a cash award. Often an Honorary Award is given to a person or group whose work the Jury wishes to recognise but who is not primarily in need of monetary support. The prize money is for ongoing successful work, never for personal use.
Unlike the Nobel Prizes and most other international prizes, the Right Livelihood Award has no categories. It recognises that, in striving to meet the human challenges of today’s world, the most inspiring and remarkable work often defies any standard classification. The Right Livelihood Award is not an award for the world’s political, scientific or economic elite, but an award for the people and their work and struggles for a better future. The Laureates come from all walks of life: they are farmers, teachers, doctors, or simply, concerned citizens. The Right Livelihood Award accepts proposals from everyone through an open nomination process. The presentation of the Right Livelihood Award is only the start of a long relationship between the Laureate and the Foundation. The Foundation sees its role as being the megaphone and shield for the Laureates, and provides them with long-term support.
Grant
- A total of five small grants for journalists will be disbursed in 2017. The grants will cover reasonable travel, accommodation and communication costs related to the selected story, as well as a modest honorarium;
- All successful applicants will be requested to sign a grant agreement prior to disbursement of funds and provide adequate justification for the costs incurred upon the completion of the assignment. Should reporting not take place for reasons other than force majeure, the Foundation reserves the right to revoke the funding.
Eligibility
- Applicants can be print, online, photo and broadcast journalists (staff or freelance), or journalism students in their final year of studies;
- Applicants can be based anywhere in the world, however they must produce the report Reporting Right Livelihood Journalism Grant Scheme 2017 in one of the following languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Hindi, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish or Turkish.
Application Process
- All applicants must complete the application form for consideration by the Steering Committee with an indication of the story angle, the Right Livelihood Laureate(s) to be featured, the media outlet(s) approached for publication, and the indicative budget.
- The deadline for applications is June 15, 2017. The successful applicants will be announced on July 1, 2017. All selected grantees must complete their reports before the end of 2017.
For more information, vist Reporting Right Livelihood Journalism Grant Scheme.
