Deadline: December 1, 2023
Applications are open for the EJN Story Grants to Strengthen Environmental Coverage in the Amazon 2024. Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, the Internews Americas team in alliance with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are offering a second round of story grants to journalists and communicators from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, to strengthen their capacities to produce high-quality, factual, and engaging public information on the impacts of transnational conservation crimes, their association with biodiversity loss and climate change, and to highlight viable community-led and policy-driven solutions to mitigate these impacts.
This opportunity is offered as part of the Together for Conservation project, which aims to strengthen the capacities of civil society actors and their regional networks to conserve biodiversity and prevent environmental crimes in the Amazon.
The project aims to facilitate safe and effective collaboration among journalists, independent media and communicators to support the production of content that amplifies Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ issues. The goal is also to promote transparency and accountability to combat transnational conservation crimes in the Amazon basin.
Story Themes
They welcome transnational story ideas that focus on the threats to biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods due to activities such as illegal logging, unsustainable fishing, wildlife trafficking and illegal mining. Proposals related to transnational economic or illicit activities and/or focusing on supply chain investigation are preferred.
They also welcome solutions-driven story pitches highlighting the actions of policymakers, civil society organizations, Indigenous peoples and local communities, and business sectors to deter and mitigate the threats posed by conservation crimes in the Amazon. Such activities include, for instance, sustainable forestry management practices, tracing and monitoring wildlife trafficking, and efforts to deter illegality across the value chain, such as certification, among others.
They aim to support the production of stories that raise awareness about conservation crimes among communities and policymakers at the local, national, and regional levels.
Grants
- EJN expects to award up to 40 grants of around USD $1,500 to $2,000 each. They expect applications requesting higher amounts of around US$2,500 to include cross-country collaboration and/or be produced in partnerships of two or more outlets or organizations.
Eligibility
- Open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio) and other expert media practitioners with professional reporting experience.
- They welcome applications from early-career journalists and experienced reporters with a track record of covering environment conservation topics in the Amazon region.
- They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – international, national, local, and community-based.
- Applicants can be based in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru; applicants residing in the Amazon region of these countries are preferred. They have special interest in proposals coming from Indigenous journalists from the region.
- Groups of journalists are eligible and details of how each member of the group will participate needs to be explicit in the proposal. However, the application must be made in the name of one lead applicant. If awarded, the lead applicant is responsible for communicating with EJN and receiving funds on the group’s behalf.
- For the purposes of this grant opportunity, they will be accepting applications in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Judging Criteria
Applicants should consider the following points when devising their story proposals.
- Relevance: Does the proposal meet the criteria and objectives of the call? Why does this story matter, and to whom? Are the main idea, context, and overall value to the target audience clearly defined?
- Angle: If the story has been covered, does your proposal bring new insights to 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 spur action?
- Innovative storytelling: Using creative approaches, multimedia, and data visualization will be considered a plus.
- Plan for timely publication: Reporters, whether freelance or employed at a media outlet, will need to include a letter of support from an editor in their application, committing to publish the stories by the end of August 2024.
Application
Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in EJN’s new research study evaluating the state of climate and environmental journalism globally. The survey is available in 11 languages for journalists and editors covering climate and environment and will close on December 8. You can take the survey here and read more about the goals of the project here.
For more information, visit EJN Story Grants.
