Deadline: August 29, 2021
Applications for the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Grants 2021 to Report on the Impacts of Climate Change in the Bay of Bengal are now open. Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is offering grants to journalists to report on the impacts of climate change on human health along the Bay of Bengal coast in Bangladesh and India.
The Bay of Bengal is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change. This vulnerability stems from both the wide variety of climate risks as well as the density and diversity of the roughly 400 million people who call it home.
For the past three years, Internews’ Earth Journalism Network has been carrying out a media development project along the Bay of Bengal coast in Bangladesh and India to bring to the attention of policymakers and residents the impacts of climate change in this region. During these three years, they have found that one of the most serious and underreported impacts is on human health.
With the help of story grants to finance their fieldwork, journalists partnering on this project have prepared several reports highlighting the seriousness of this issue. EJN now plans to take this forward by offering story grants to journalists who wish to explore this impact further and in previously unexplored areas.
Grant
- EJN expects to award five grants averaging $1,000, depending on the proposal and reporting format.
Eligibility
- Open to journalists (online, print, television, radio) with a track record of reporting on health, climate change and similar issues.
- They encourage applications from freelancers and staff from all types of media—international, national, local and community-based.
- Grantees are expected to publish or broadcast their stories in their affiliated media. EJN, its partners and the Climate Justice Resilience Fund shall have the right to edit, publish, broadcast and distribute these stories freely, once they have been published/broadcast in the original media outlet.
- Freelance reporters should demonstrate a plan for publication and provide a letter of interest from an editor.
Story Format
Stories may be produced in any of the following formats:
- Text-based stories: 1,000 to 3,000 words
- Photo stories: 10-20 images with descriptive captions and a short 200-400 word introduction
- Multimedia package: Text between 600 to 1,500 words with 2-4 minute video and/or graphics, photos and maps
- Broadcast: Video piece around 4-6 minutes in length with a short, roughly 200-word introduction
- Audio report/podcast: Feature of up to 20 minutes in length with short text to summarize the audio
judging Criteria
Applicants should consider the following points when devising their story proposals:
- Timing: They expect the proposed story or stories to be published by November 15, 2021.
- Relevance: Does the proposal meet the criteria and objectives? Why does this story matter and to whom? Is the main idea, context and overall value to the target audience clearly defined?
- Angle: If the story has been covered by other media outlets, does your proposal bring new insights into the topic or offer a fresh angle?
- Impact: Does the proposal have a compelling narrative or investigative element that will inform and engage, draw attention, trigger debate and urge action?
- Innovative storytelling: The use of creative approaches and data visualization will be considered a plus.
- Feasibility. Can the story be realistically completed within the given time frame? Is the budget realistic?
- Diversity: They will take gender and geographical distribution into account when selecting the grantees in addition to the criteria above.
Application
Applicants should provide a detailed budget with justification for the amount requested using the template provided here. You must submit two samples of stories or links to relevant work. You’ll be asked to upload these as part of the application process.
For more information, visit Earth Journalism Network.
