Call for Applications: Western Balkans Media for Change

The Western Balkans Media for Change project provides support to media outlets and individual journalists to help them improve operational capacity, business sustainability and innovation potential, while aiming to better equip media professionals to produce more quality diverse, factchecked and gender sensitive content that will reach and engage with wider audiences.

Priority Areas

• Validation of a business idea
  • Validation Booster (VB) is a tailor-made acceleration programme for media outlets, CSO initiatives and individual content creators who want to learn how to do validation of their initiative/product/service ideas or networking potential. Successful applicants, in addition to the financial support through awarded grants, will benefit from mentorship and capacity building in the domain of business development during the five-month-long acceleration process.
  • The programme targets individuals that can act as “intrapreneurs” – people who work for media outlets or CSOs and launch new products/services or initiatives inside the existing entities. The ideal participant is a person with capacity, capability and high interest in spearheading innovative initiatives and demonstrated commitment to participate in the programme.
  • Besides individuals working for organisations and/or those performing as individual content producers they highly encourage representatives from the below mentioned groups to apply for VB:
    • underrepresented, marginalised groups;
    • youth CSO and youth media outlets and young individuals;
    • women-led media and organisations that apply in everyday work gender and social inclusion policies and practices;
    • niche media/platform with specific/unusual topics coverage.
• Content production through learning, mobility or collaboration
  • They encourage empowerment of journalists, particularly those who are young or women, professionals in the early stages of their careers or women in media management roles to engage in creation of high-quality content through learning, mobility or collaboration. They welcome innovative applications from individual journalists, journalist teams, media outlets interested in producing engaging content that may include in-depth analysis and explore cross-border topics.
  • Applications within this priority area may include, but not limited to:
  • Production of quality engaging content by journalists, teams of journalists or media outlets in various types of formats. In-depth analyses and investigations are strongly encouraged.
  • Production of cross-border quality engaging content by team of journalists from different Western Balkan countries in various types of formats. In-depth analyses and investigations are strongly encouraged.
  • Job shadowing initiatives for young and aspiring journalists, women journalists or other early career journalists, editors, and media managers in credible media outlets in and outside of their home country and creation of content of common interest and amplify audience reach.
  • Practical mobility and learning initiatives which result in creation and publishing of engaging high-quality content.
• Strengthening public broadcasting service (PBS) content and audience reach
  • Applicants are invited to apply with innovative proposals that enable collaboration between journalists, editors and teams working at a PBS, with a focus on engagement of diverse women, young journalists and underrepresented groups. This target group has experience and potential to lead on the efforts that tackle inequality and exclusion challenges and thereby contribute to social cohesion. Activities that can be proposed under this priority area, but are not limited to, include:
    • Collaborations that engage diverse women, young and underrepresented journalists, editors and teams working within PBS.
    • Production of quality engaging content by team of journalists, editors, and media professionals from public broadcasting service in various types of formats. In-depth analysis and investigations are strongly encouraged.
    • Cross-border production of content from teams of journalists, editors and media workers from public broadcast service from different Western Balkan countries are also eligible. Access to different digital tools and editorial and mentoring support will be offered.
    • Production and publishing of quality content in various formats based on information and data obtained from the Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) tool. Such as, production and publishing of articles, news, TV stories, TV debates, in-depth analysis, investigations, podcasts, videos and others.
• Audience development and engagement
  • Applications within this priority area, may include, but not limited to:
    • Community engagement and growth: development of innovative audience engagement strategies that actively engage contributions from diverse women, youth and underrepresented groups, including audiences 65+.
    • Use of analytics, strategies and tools to develop and engage new audiences.
    • Piloting new methodologies and channels for audience development and engagement.
• Networking support
  • Applicants are invited to apply with specific activities or programs of professional associations that promote fundamental rights and freedoms of journalists, with a focus on gender equality and social inclusion aspects that address diverse backgrounds, by providing particular services which respond to their specific needs. This priority area seeks proposals that promote the role of women, youth and underrepresented groups in media through specific actions, platforms and networks.
• Promoting quality professional and ethical journalism
  • This priority area is focused on strengthening independent journalism, work based on professionalism and integrity and creating working environments that are inclusive and promote diversity.
  • The following activities, but not limited to, can be included in applications under this priority area:
    • Marking relevant dates through meaningful events that promote independent journalisms/contributions and integrity of women, youth and diverse groups in media/fact checking and fight against disinformation and misinformation.
    • Creating an event connecting media professionals, with a focused engagement of diverse women, youth and underrepresented professionals of diverse backgrounds, whose contribution could encourage collaboration and new audience reach.
    • Promoting the role of diverse women, youth and other voices from the margin of the media through specific actions, platforms, content production or any other action with significant impact.

Funding Information

• Grants for individuals – ceiling of up to GBP 4,000
• Grants for initiatives – ceiling of up to GBP 4,000
• Grants for media outlets / organisations – ceiling of up to GBP 10,000

Eligibility Criteria

• The Flexi grants are intended for Western Balkans individuals, media outlets, associations and other organisations, which promote independent journalism, including:
  • Organisations – media outlets, both traditional and online media, groups/teams of journalists with the status of a legal entity (e.g. associations, formally established networks, etc.) and nongovernmental media organisations in Western Balkan countries.
  • Individuals – media professionals, young journalists, students and media content creators.
  • Initiatives – actions of groups of professional individuals engaged in (or planning) strengthening the role of women and/or youth in the media sector, promoting quality journalism, regional initiatives, etc.
• Funding aims to enable quality, engaging and innovative content production, local and regional collaboration, professional development, internships, networking, mobility, and validation of business ideas and networking potential.
• The Flexi grants are intended to support well-defined innovative projects, actions and initiatives that go beyond regular operations, but not to finance the regular operations. The activities should be implemented in the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Ineligible

• The following interventions/activities will not be funded under any priority area:
  • Capital investments: funding for infrastructure, or physical assets (e.g. media studios, media rooms, general office equipment);
  • Grants consisting entirely or mainly of work and/or preparatory studies/research;
  • Service-type activities, such as technical assistance;
  • Awareness-raising campaigns without appropriate follow-up activities;
  • Giving grants to third parties. Small-scale financial assistance to beneficiaries is allowed only in cases where all expenses are executed by the implementing organisation;
  • Scholarships to third parties.

For more information, visit British Council.