Grants of up to €20,000 to support freelance journalists

The Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund has just opened the second round of applications for the Freelancer Support Scheme.
The scheme provides grants of up to €20,000 to cross-border teams made up entirely of freelancers. It will also offer an extra layer of support through training, mentoring and networking opportunities.
The deadline for applications is 23 February, 23:59 CET.
Managed by the European Journalism Centre (EJC), the scheme is designed to support journalists operating outside of newsroom structures who may be underserved by other journalism support schemes and/or who are significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis or other pressures, including war in Ukraine, yet who are nonetheless willing and able to collaborate with others to launch investigations of importance to audiences at a local, national, regional and European level.

Investigations developed for all formats — including print, broadcast, online media, documentary filmmaking and multi-platform storytelling — are eligible to receive support.

Grantees have six months to complete their projects. During these six months, in addition to grant funding, they benefit from two types of non-financial support, mentoring and training.

The EJC will organise a half-day online event to bring together Freelancer Support Scheme grantees, mentors and other external experts. The event will be in a format that encourages active participation from both grantees and mentors, allowing them to align their mutual expectations and maximise the effectiveness of the programme. At least one member per team should attend the networking event. 

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the Freelancer Support Scheme, applications must be submitted by teams composed entirely of freelance journalists that meet the following criteria:

• They must be based in at least two EU member states, OR…
• They must be based in at least one EU member state and at least one official EU candidate country (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey or Ukraine).
• Third-country team members from further afield are welcome to take part, but they must be part of teams that fulfil the core geographical criteria described above. In other words, they must be part of teams with members based in at least two EU member states or at least one EU member state and one EU candidate country.
• Please note that unlike in previous editions of IJ4EU, journalists based in the United Kingdom will no longer be treated as equivalent to their counterparts in EU member states. The United Kingdom is now treated the same as any other third country. 

In addition:

• Teams must collaborate on a topic of cross-border relevance, and
• They must be signed up to a press regulator, journalists’ union, trust initiative, or part of a press association, or have current CVs/online portfolios that demonstrate relevant qualifications or a history of working with trusted news organisations.