DEADLINE EXTEDED – call for proposals: cross-border grant competition for journalists writing about Belarus

Press Club Belarus, Belarus in Focus and MyMedia/NIRAS announce a cross-border grant competition for journalists writing about Belarus.

The aim of the call is to:

• raise professional standards among the media community in Belarus
• create and strengthen ties between Belarusian journalists/media with counterparts in other countries
• improve understanding by journalists/media outside of Belarus of issues relating to Belarus

Who can apply:

Belarusian and international journalists, editors, publishers, media experts, journalism students and graduates.

We are looking for projects, which will be implemented by at least two persons, including at least one from Belarus. The project should produce a media product in any written journalism genre, (including analytical articles, reports, essays, extensive interviews, journalism investigation, and others) except a straight forward news/promo piece. The project should create a new media product, which has not been published before. Projects will be evaluated by an expert panel, including Yuiya Slutskaya, Belarus in Focus director, Judith Soal, The Guardian’s New East Network editor and Michael Andersen, MYMEDIA/NIRAS director. The decision will be made by the end of June 2015. Only winners will be notified. Completed projects will be published on Belarus in Focus, Press Club Belarus and My Media websites.

Deadline for submitting your proposal is June 16^th, 2015 by 23.55.

Ideally, we would like to fund 3-5 projects. Funds available within the grant scheme total EUR 5,000.

When selecting the winning projects, the following formal criteria should be met:

• project’s outcome is a media product of written journalism genre and
• is about Belarus but is also interesting for international and domestic audiences
• it has not yet been published
• it has been produced by at least two authors, indlucing one from Belarus
• it is more than a straightforward news/promo piece
• it is in English or in Russian/Belarusian
• it will be completed by end of September 2015

If you have an idea about a project but you lack a partner from Belarus (if you are an international journalist) or a partner from outside of Belarus (if you are a Belarusian national), feel free to contact us at focus@belarusinfocus.info and we will try to help you with finding a partner through our base of contacts.

In addition, experts will assess and select projects based on the following qualitiative criteria:

• partnership level
• novelty of the idea
• whether it would be easy to commission

Please submit your application by filling the form and sending it to focus@belarusinfocus.info. All applications should be submitted in English or Russian/Belarusian in .doc or .pdf formats with files not exceeding 1 MB. Please note in e-mail subject line: Call for proposal.

If you have any questions, please contact us at focus@belarusinfocus.info