Reminder - Collaborative Reporting Grants Deadline March 10
Just a quick note: We’ve decided to extend the deadline for the next round of Collaborative Reporting Grants to March 10th. That means you have until the end of this week to apply.
These grants ($1000 to $3000 USD) are specifically aimed at promoting collaboration, and allowing journalists from different countries to work together to fill in gaps in each others’ reporting, especially when tracing environmental crimes across borders. They are open to media outlets, journalists, and freelancers.
The deadline is rolling, but we’ll make decision on the second round of applications by mid-March.
Grant FAQs
Why can’t I apply by myself for a reporting grant?
ERC’s core focus is collaboration. It was what got us started on our first project, The Pangolin Reports, and our projects since then, including Oceans Inc. We see tremendous value in reporters working together, across borders and newsrooms, on investigations.
That being said, we know it's hard to find a collaborator, and are willing to help. If you have an idea, but no collaborator, do one of two things
Respond to this email and one of us would be happy to share ideas on how to find someone to work with. We can assist in finding a newsroom, or freelancers, to collaborate with in another country.
Join the ERC Slack Group and propose ideas to our community of over 150 journalists, editors, and media supporters.
What exactly is environmental crime?
We define environmental crime broadly. Essentially, an environmental harm that has a trans-boundary connection of some sort should be sufficient. Examples includes
IUU Fishing and marine ecology
Trafficking of endangered or rare wildlife and plant species
Supply chains and their impacts on forests or landscapes
Pollution and impacts on local communities
We also strongly encourage applications to include other angles, such as human/Indigenous rights, gender, and social impacts. We want to include meaningful stories from impacted communities in our reporting as much as possible.
My idea is still broad – is that okay?
Yes! We understand that many ideas require, well, reporting to flesh out. That is the purpose of the grant, to enable you and your collaborators to dedicate time to investigating your idea. Please provide as many details on the idea as possible, and then focus on providing details in your reporting plan – that will help us understand how you plan to investigate and report your idea.
That’s all for this week - we’ll send a regular issue, with opportunities and resources, next week.
Stay safe and healthy,
Nithin Coca
The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.
To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.