Journalismfund Grants for Individuals in Netherlands and Belgium

This project aims at strengthening local cross-border, independent and investigative journalism in order to increase the availability of qualitative local news, and at making citizens more aware of local – and often interrelated and global – issues and possible solutions. As such it aims to contribute to citizens’ critical thinking, well-informed debates/decisions and to foster civic engagement.

This Local Cross-Border Investigative Journalism Project is an initiative of Journalismfund Europe supported by the Flemish Government.

Funding Information

• Grant amount: €100,000 available.

Uses of the Fund

• Grants can cover working time and out-of-pocket expenses such as travel, visa, accommodation, translation, fixers, access to pay-databases, FOI requests, legal screening, etc.,
• Only freelance journalists can apply for a grant to cover their working time. Employed staff journalists can only apply for a working grant if they can provide a reason and prove that they are not receiving any wages for their working time on this project.
• Following expenses cannot be covered by the grants: investments goods (such as IT equipment, mobile phones, software), production costs, food and beverage, per diems, etc.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Only natural persons and for some Grant Programs also incorporated legal entities are eligible for a grant. Depending on the Grant Program restrictions can be made based on the residency of the applicant(s).
• The applicant(s) must be working as professional journalists (natural persons) or be professional news outlets (legal entities). References from individuals (editors, publishers, journalists, professors) and/or references to earlier work are essential. Journalism fund Europe reserves the right to contact references (while respecting the confidentiality of the proposal).
• Students are not eligible in all Grant Programs.
• Journalists who were previously allocated a Journalismfund grant can reapply, but the jury can include the result of previous grants in their evaluation of the new application.
• The applicant(s) must demonstrate convincingly that the project would be unrealizable without a grant. In other words, the reason why the applicant is appealing to Journalismfund Europe should be explained.
• The applicant(s) should be able to demonstrate the feasibility of the project.
• A basic commitment in the form of a ‘Letter of Intent’ to publish the product from a news editor is one of the conditions to obtain a grant.

For more information, visit Journalismfund Europe.