2017 Internews’ Earth Journalism Network West African Fisheries Reporting Grants is offering a second round of reporting grants to support fisheries and environment journalism in West Africa as part of a wider and recently launched capacity building project in the region.
With the overall goal of improving journalists’ ability to expertly tackle the often overlapping issues of overfishing, illegal fishing, food security and ocean governance, the project aims to further explore the economic and social consequences of overfishing on coastal communities, through stories and investigations.
The two-year project reflects the goals of Target 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG14) adopted in 2015 by the UN General Assembly to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Working Journalists (online, print, television) and other expert media practitioners based in West African countries are welcome to apply.
Applicants who have a track record of reporting on fisheries or other environmental issues will have an advantage, but we are open to supporting professional journalists who can offer other types of expertise (for instance, in business reporting).
EJN encourage freelancers and staff from all types of media outlets—both large and small—to submit applications, but please indicate where you expect to publish or broadcast your story.
EJN encourage journalists who attended the African Journalists for Sustainable Fisheries Workshop to apply for the grants.
STORY THEMES
EJN welcome all story ideas relating to fisheries management in West Africa. We are looking to bring awareness to new and/or underreported threats or solutions to the management of West African fisheries. Stories and applications may be in either English or French.
Special consideration will be given to applicants looking to conduct in-depth, investigative or enterprise reporting on the following topics:
the impact of overfishing and IUU fishing on coastal communities,
the use of destructive fishing practices, bycatch and fish aggregating devices
community-led fisheries management initiatives
poverty reduction and food security through sustainable fisheries
challenges of transboundary management of fisheries and shared stock
In addition, we are especially looking to receive applications from the journalists who attended the African Journalists for Sustainable Fisheries Workshop.
STORY FORMATS
EJN is offering up to $500 per grant with some flexibility for deep, investigative stories using innovative approaches to storytelling. Applicants should provide a detailed budget with justification for the amount requested and a breakdown of likely costs incurred.
We expect that proposals will largely reflect what equipment the applicant already has access to (including cameras, drones, lighting, tripods, etc) and are less likely to approve budgets that heavily focus on the procurement of new supplies.
EXPECTED STORY LENGTHS
Investigative feature: 1,500 – 3,500 words (can be combined with video, photos, graphics, and/or maps)
News article: 700 – 1,500 words (can be combined with video, photos, graphics, and/or maps)
Video package: Video piece (2-6 minutes in length) that can be accompanied by text, graphics, photos, and/or maps
Online multimedia package: Interactive website featuring some combination of text, video, graphics, photos and/or maps to enhance the story
**NOTE: Proposals should include detailed plans for accompanying multimedia elements such as photos, maps and video.
Application Procedure:
It is a condition of the grant that Internews and the Adessium Foundation can publish and distribute the funded stories, however, the writers/producers are free and encouraged to publish or broadcast their stories in other media outlets.
Deadline for applications is November 13, 2017 at 5pm EDT.
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