Plupro Project: Multifaceted Support for European Cross-Border Investigative Journalism

The PluPro project will distribute 2,230,000 euros among journalists and media (national and local) in Europe to set up transnational investigations together. At the same time, journalists and media can receive newsroom training, scholarships and mentoring in addition to financial support.

Corporate and political power is shifting to the international and local level. The PluPro project (from “Pluralism Prodemos” Latin for “they want to promote pluralism”) aims to give journalists and (local and national) media a push to set up transnational investigations together.

The PluPro project is co-funded by the European Commission (Creative Europe), Limelight Foundation and Vereniging Veronica. The programme is managed by two organisations led by Journalismfund Europe (Belgium) in collaboration with Transitions (Czech Republic).

What is it?

• It is the continuation of Journalismfund’s award-winning European Cross-border grant programme that has been running since 2009 and the continuation of Journalismfund’s European Local Cross-Border grant programme. On top of the existing grants, mentoring and scholarships, it now includes an additional programme for training of newsrooms and journalists.
• The programme will consist of:
  • A grant, mentoring and scholarships programme for European cross-border investigative journalism which has been running since 2009 (ECB)
  • A grant, mentoring and scholarships programme for European cross-border LOCAL investigative journalism which has been running since 2022 (CBLocal)
  • Newsroom training, subgrants for two cohorts of newsrooms with mentoring
  • A cross-border investigative journalism (online) training programme for professional journalists
  • A follow-up and a wide dissemination of the supported stories among the European public, and of the learnings and knowledge among the journalistic community across Europe.

Grant Programmes

• European Cross-border Grants (ECB)
  • This grant programme aims to address the shortage of independent journalism by providing grants to investigative journalism projects in Europe and encouraging cross-border collaboration. It supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets who have good ideas for cross-border investigations and for research on European topics. The stories must be relevant to European target groups. Next to a grant, teams can also apply for a mentor to provide assistance with either the focus of the investigation or the need for competences in a specific skill. They can also apply for scholarships to share their investigations with their colleagues.
• European Local Cross-border Grants
  • This grant programme aims at addressing the shortage of local independent journalism by administering grants to local investigative journalistic projects in Europe and stimulating cross-border collaboration. It stimulates local journalists and (small) news outlets to conduct investigative journalism and learn from colleagues in other countries, creating a European network of local (investigative) journalists in the long run. At the same time, it encourages local journalists and news outlets to compare with other regions and cities in other countries that face similar problems or challenges, which are eminently European issues. Also in this programme, teams can apply for mentoring and scholarships.

Funding Information

• The total budget of this two-year project is about 3,3 million euro with 90% supported by the EU under the Creative Europe Programme (CREA). Limelight Foundation and Vereniging Veronica will cover the remainder of the budget.

Eligibility Criteria

• Teams of journalists and/or independent media preferably from two European countries are eligible to apply. At least 80% of your requested budget should go to journalists/media from EU countries. As of tradition, Journalismfund offers “matchmaking assistance” to journalists and media looking for a partner in another country. Journalismfund has a database of nearly 11,000 journalists and 2,800 media companies.

For more information, visit Journalismfund Europe.