The IJ4EU fund has selected 14 additional projects under its Publication Support Scheme, allocating €130,000 to cross-border investigations that are already underway and need a final boost to reach publication.
Altogether, the Publication Support Scheme has assisted 24 projects in various stages of completion this year with a total pot of €204,500.
This comes in addition to €864,000 in funding allocated to 25 new cross-border projects under the IJ4EU’s Investigation Support Scheme this year.
The Publication Support Scheme grants of up to €10,000 offer short-term support for journalists in EU member states and candidate countries to get their collaborative projects over the finish line, while the Investigation Support Scheme provides grants of up to €50,000 to launch new projects.
The latest 14 grantees were selected after the Publication Support Scheme closed on 18 September 2020. They involve freelance and staff journalists as well as news organisations from 16 countries on topics ranging from the environment and public health to organised crime.
In no particular order, the teams and their projects are:
- An international team of journalists investigating Russian influence and asset-stashing in the EU – €10,000
- Two freelance journalists working on corporate social responsibility in the fisheries sector – €8,000
- An international team working on a data-driven investigation on COVID-19 and building a database with sociodemographic variables in Europe – €10,000
- Michele Catanzaro (Spain) and Astrid Viciano (Germany) are working on a cross-border investigation into the pharmaceutical sector – €8,670
- An international collaboration investigating the recycling industry and new garbage routes in the EU – €9,600
- An international collaboration between two organisations investigating the environmental impact of local industrial accidents –€10,000
- A team of freelancers examining conflicts of interest in science and research – €10,000
- Two freelance journalists investigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on real estate ownership in Europe – €9,621
- An international team coordinated by AlgorithmWatch investigating the impact coordinated groups on social media have on the European public – €4,250
- An international collaboration by Slidstvo.info, Bird.bg and an freelance investigative reporter from Romania working on an investigation into organised crime in Eastern Europe – €10,000
- An international team of freelance journalists investigating new offshore energy projects in the Black Sea – €10,000
- A collaboration investigating political influence in the energy sector in Central and Eastern Europe – €10,000
- A group of freelancers investigating organised crime and corruption in Eastern Europe – €9,970
- An international team led by Gergely Nyilas (Telex, Hungary) and including Dmytro Tuzhanskyi (Varosh, Ukraine) and Markus Müller-Schinwald (ORF, Austria) is working on an environmental investigation in Central Europe – €8,978.
On 31 August, the IJ4EU fund unveiled the first cohort of grantees under the Publication Support Scheme, with €75,000 allocated to 10 investigations.
The IJ4EU Publication Support Scheme is run by the European Journalism Centre (EJC). It accepted proposals submitted on a rolling basis between 5 May and 18 September 2020. The evaluation and selection of projects was carried out by EJC experts with input from the International Press Institute (IPI), which allowed for swift results on a rolling timetable so as to meet the ongoing needs of projects.
All projects were awarded in accordance with the Publication Support Scheme eligibility and selection criteria.
The IJ4EU fund recently announced the results of the second round of its Investigation Support Scheme, which is managed by IPI.
The two schemes are the backbone of the IJ4EU fund, which has disbursed over €1 million in grants to investigative projects on transnational issues in the public interest in 2020 following a successful pilot year in 2018. The project includes additional assistance in the form of training, editorial support and legal aid.
IJ4EU has also launched an award to celebrate the best of European cross-border investigative journalism and plans to hold a conference early next year to encourage networking and innovation. Both the award and the conference are run by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF).
This text reflects the authors’ view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.