New funding for journalists to put global health topics in the spotlight

The European Journalism Centre today opens new calls for applications for its Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes for Germany and France. More than 20 grants worth €15,000 on average will be awarded overall, looking to advance the coverage of international health, health policy and development issues in German and French media.

About the programmes

Since the launch of the Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes for Germany (2016) and France (2018), we have disbursed over half a million euros to 39 journalistic projects that brought under-reported global health stories to the attention of audiences in Germany and France.

Stories on antibiotic resistance in India, the mental health crisis in Iraq and lead poisoning of communities living near recycling factories in Nigeria, to name just a few, have had an impact on a wide spectrum of society, ranging from audience engagement to donations to NGOs.

Our grantees’ work has won journalism awards such us the Memento Prize for Neglected Diseases, related to this reporting about solutions to failed public healthcare systems, and the Journalism Prize of the Central Committee for the Fight against Tuberculosis, for this project about improved access to healthcare in India.

What you need to know to apply

These two grant programmes are designed for freelancers and staff journalists with a proven track record in covering development, global health and science. Applicants need to provide a letter of intent for publication from at least one relevant media outlet in Germany or France. There is no citizenship, nationality or residence restriction. Before applying, please read carefully the eligibility criteria for the German call or for the French call.

Entries need to be submitted online by way of this application for the German call, and this application for the French one.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 8 August 2019 (22:00 CEST).

Selection criteria include originality, focus & balance of the chosen topic, audience reach and expected impact on the targeted audiences. Award decisions will be taken by the EJC and editorial independence will be rigorously safeguarded. Applicants will be notified by email on the status of their applications by end of August.

Any questions?

If you have further questions about your application, we are organising “Ask-Me-Anything” sessions: on 25 July 2019 for those applying for the German grant; and on 29 July 2019 for those applying for the French programme.

To book a time slot, send us an email before 24 July 2019 to healthreporting@journalismgrants.org, for the German call; and to sante@journalismgrants.org, for the French one.

Besides having these one-on-ones, a detailed set of responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) can be found here, for the German call, and here for the French one. Alternatively, you can also contact the EJC team at healthreporting@journalismgrants.org for the German programme and at sante@journalismgrants.org for the French grant.

This initiative to enable journalists to produce in-depth reporting on global health is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

To find out more, check out our website, Facebook page, Twitter account and subscribe to our Funding newsletter.

Further reading

For background on the Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes, check out these articles:

How journalists are overcoming the challenges of global health reporting

Keep an eye out for these ten global health stories in German media

Ten stories on global health that will impact media audiences in France

Some common mistakes when applying for a journalism grant — and how to avoid them

Cross-border journalism: The successful example of a German-Indian collaboration