Deadline: February 27, 2025
Applications are open for the EJN Story Grants to Support Reporting on the Marine Environment in the Adriatic Region 2025. Internews’ Earth Journalism Network is pleased to announce a new story grant call to support in-depth reporting on the marine environment in the Adriatic region—including illegal, under-reported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, pollution, coastal development issues and the biodiversity crisis—as well as solutions to the climate and environmental threats confronting this ecosystem, such as the establishment of marine protected areas, new regulations to curb IUU fishing, community-based marine conservation initiatives and enhanced monitoring and enforcement.
In addition to funding, the selected journalists will receive support from experienced mentors through the story production process.
This opportunity is a collaboration between EJN’s Boosting Environmental Coverage in the Western Balkans project and their Mediterranean Media Initiative (MMI) project. MMI has supported marine reporting in the broader region since March 2022. and continues to build the capacity of journalists reporting on marine issues impacting their countries and the wider region.
Grant
- They expect to award up to 10 grants with a budget of up to 1,200 Euros each with the expectation that the stories will be published before the end of September 2025. Applicants should consider this timeline when drafting their workplan.
Eligibility
- Applications from Western Balkan countries that border the Adriatic Sea are welcome (i.e. Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania). Journalists from inland Balkan countries such as Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia are also eligible to apply if their stories can be directly tied to the Adriatic Sea. Journalists from Italy are also eligible to apply.
- Groups of journalists are eligible, and cross-border collaborations are most welcome; however, the application must be made in the name of one lead applicant. Lead applicants are responsible for communicating with EJN and receiving funds on the group’s behalf, if awarded.
- For the purposes of this grant opportunity, they will only be accepting written applications in English. Unfortunately, they do not have the capacity to consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must have a working understanding of English or have a translator available to assist with communication with Internews staff.
- Applications are open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio, social media) and other expert media practitioners with professional reporting experience. They welcome applications from early-career journalists and experienced reporters with a track record of environmental issues. They encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations—international, national, local and community-based.
- EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, plagiarism and/or submitting AI-generated content as their own.
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? Is 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: The use of 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 September 30, 2025 at the latest. Requests for extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Application
For more information, visit EJN Story Grants.
