2013-08-27

BRUSSELS – Journalismfund.eu has launched a new call for applications for cross-border working grants. Journalists with good ideas for cross-border, European stories can apply for a grant. For this round there is € 33,000 to be distributed.

The application round comes a year after Journalismfund.eu’s last round in September 2012, when a total amount of € 20,000 was awarded. Since then, a number of (longer-running) projects have been published.

In February 2013, at the height of the Europe-wide horsemeat scandal, Italian investigative reporters Cecilia Anesi, Giulio Rubino and Lorenzo Bodrero published the results of their research into so-called ‘made in Italy’ tomato puree that was in fact mass-produced in China and loopholes in the EU regulations on food. The team later added a second chapter to the investigation, this time focusing on the sometimes questionable production process of olive oil in Italy. The Italian team of investigative reporters had received a Journalismfund.eu grant of € 5,000 in the March 2012 application round.

One more supported project on olive oil was published in the past year, but the focus of the project was different. Instead of focusing on fraud in the production process of olive oil, Anders Pedersen and Antonio Villarreal zoomed in on the working conditions of the employees and the consequences for the environment, which are often neglected.

The other published projects cover a variety of topics:

Bad Doctor: question marks over EU's doctor register – free movement of labour within the European Union causes a significant and growing number of doctors working abroad. However, that also requires free movement of information about the doctors, in order to secure patients' safety. And that is exactly where the problem is.

Buy your way into EU Citizenship – dodgy dealers in Romanian nationality can conjure up genuine documents for fake applicants, and with it the right to work within the EU.

Roma exploitation: end of the dream – some 10 to 12 million Roma are estimated to travel around Europe. The political dimension of this ethnical and social challenge is an ongoing discussion in the EU, but what is never told is the dark economy of Roma migration. Who benefits from the large afflux of mainly poor people into Western Europe?

Gaza's Gas: The EU's Burned Millions – the Gaza Strip suffers daily power cuts of eight hours or more; the region's only power plant produces far too little electricity to meet the people's needs. How did things get this far, after massive international aid has been invested in the region that was supposed to help the Gazans?

If you have a good idea for a cross-border, European story, apply for a working grant by filling out the application form on the Journalismfund.eu website. The application deadline is 16 September 2013, 9 am Brussels time. Evaluation by the jury is planned for 27 September.

Call for proposals with new options

2010-04-17

BRUSSELS – Journalismfund.eu now can distribute another round of research grants. If journalists have a good idea for an investigative story but lack time or money to carry out the research, they can apply for funding. As a new option this call not only offers support for cross-border stories but also for European affairs stories.

Money to stories all over Europe

2010-07-05

BRUSSELS – Almost € 21.000 have been distributed to five teams of journalists. This is the 3rd round of research grants for cross-border and European research stories. Interest keeps growing.

Call for applications

2011-08-12

BRUSSELS – Do you have a European story that goes across borders, and do you need a bit of extra support to carry it out? Then maybe Journalismfund.eu can help you with a research grant.