CFPs: EU Audio Reporting Programme

The Multimedia Actions fund general EU information, news and programmes for the public from European perspectives. These actions aim to increase the visibility of the EU institutions’ work, the decisions taken and the steps involved in building the EU. Consequently, the activities should be designed to enhance citizens’ access to content, enabling them to exercise their right to be informed about EU policies, engage with them and contribute to a more robust European public sphere. All actions and beneficiaries operate with full editorial independence. For the purpose of this funding, in addition to news on the main EU institutions, the definition of EU affairs may include:

• general economic, political and cultural affairs, demonstrating how different EU countries address the same issues;
• regional and national decisions that have the potential to influence opinions on the EU and impact daily lives in other EU countries;
• economic, political and cultural affairs from individual Member States, illustrating to those living in other countries how issues of common concern are addressed.

Radio is a trusted source of news for people in many EU countries, and traditional and new audio formats have become ingrained in people’s news consumption habits. With this call for proposals, the Commission intends to:

• increase independent reporting on European issues, from a pan-European viewpoint and/or by comparing different viewpoints from within the EU, mainly through audio formats;
• increase the reach of such content via broadcasting and/or digital platforms across the EU, to as many EU citizens as possible, and especially in countries where there is limited information on EU affairs.

Objectives

• Objective1: content production Proposals should mainly focus on audio production. Expected results include regular/weekly high-quality, editorially independent audio formats that provide an indepth and diverse view on EU affairs in as many EU languages as possible. The chosen topics and formats should be appealing and innovative. To ensure a truly European perspective, the content should to the extent possible be produced jointly by journalists across the EU.
  • Production needs to adhere to the highest editorial standards. Editorial independence will be guaranteed by a charter of independence that will be part of the agreement between the European Commission and the successful applicant(s).
• Objective2: content distribution Distribution needs to aim for the largest possible audience. To do so, the content distribution process will need to take into account the market conditions and the needs, interests and habits of the target audiences and potential multipliers from the outset.

Themes and Priorities

• Content production 
  • Applicants should ensure coverage in at least 6 EU languages. Proposals must aim to reflect the diversity of people and audiences in the EU and involve diverse countries/regions. Applicants are encouraged to identify market gaps and to involve media organisations that can provide independent information in areas where provision of EU affairs is scarce.
  • Proposals should aim for at least 10 minutes of original content produced per language per week, ideally more, focusing in an in-depth coverage of EU affairs through magazines, reports, documentaries and/or talks shows, thus aside news bulletins.
• Governance and workflows 
  • Applicants must outline the governance, editorial and technical arrangements underpinning the proposal. They need to show and explain the applicable guidelines and editorial standards. They should indicate how these standards are respected and implemented internally and externally (e.g. through independent analyses of editorial quality) ensuring transparency and/or measures to increase accountability towards the audiences.
  • Applicants will share editorial responsibility. They will draw up editorial guidelines at the start of the project, and regularly monitor compliance.
• Content distribution and outreach
  • The Commission expects applicants to ensure that the produced content has a substantial reach in each target EU language, reflecting diverse audiences. Audiences should be able to access the content for free.
  • Proposals must contain a detailed outreach plan, explaining how the content will be distributed through broadcasting and/or digital means. In case of broadcasting, this requires programming grids, clearly stating which channels will be used to broadcast and/or rebroadcast the proposed content, in which programmes and at what times. Proposals should pursue maximum reach and therefore explain peak listening times and explain the best attainable programming slots.

Funding Information

• The available call budget is EUR 4500000. The EU co-financing is limited to a maximum of 95% of the total eligible costs.
• Projects should normally last 24 months.
• Grants will support the production of innovative audio formats and their distribution across borders.

Eligible Activities

• The following types of activities are eligible under this call:
  • Editorial online projects, content production, curation and dissemination.
  • Coordination and editorial supervision, governance, management, technical and editorial workflows, staff, control systems.
  • Setup, maintenance and/or development of technical delivery, distribution and transmission systems (via digital platforms, websites and tools, etc.).
  • Advertising, promotion, awareness and outreach actions.
  • Data studies and research related to the editorial needs, technical components and audience measurement.
  • Financial support to third parties.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs).
• Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants or combinations of:
  • News media organisations (private or public)
  • Other organisations active in media (private or public)

For more information, visit European Commission.