The International Center for Journalists is making two kinds of grants available to members of our network in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to address the increase in disinformation, censorship and crackdowns on independent media, and to help inform audiences who lack access to reliable information. 

The ICFJ Pamela Howard Global Crisis Reporting Fund

Focus: Ukraine-Russia War, Disinformation, Refugee Reporting, Accountability Reporting, Solutions Journalism

Closing Date: April 8, 2022

Grants of up to $3,000 each are available to journalists providing reliable coverage on these critical issues.  We encourage independent media in any of the eligible regions and exiled Russian and Ukrainian journalists to apply.

For example, stories could be produced tracing, exposing and analyzing disinformation, reporting on the refugee crisis caused by the Ukraine-Russia War, or the economic fallout of sanctions globally, or looking at the consequences of the war on the global food supply. 

Applicants should explain why the story is important, who would produce the story (cross-border collaborations are especially encouraged), who is the target audience for the story, how it will be disseminated, the risks involved in the story and how they will be mitigated.

Stories can be published in any language. We strongly encourage exiled media to apply. 

Digital Tools to Support Journalists Fund

Focus: Access to Information, Transparency, Story Amplification, Audience Engagement, Countering Disinformation, Digital Security

Closing Date: April 15, 2022

Grants of up to $10,000 each are available for projects to elevate reliable coverage such as data visualizations, digital security tools, platforms to share stories more widely, databases of public information, or other innovative ideas. 

Applicants should explain what needs the project would meet, its target users, who would produce it, and how it would be implemented and made available publicly.

These tools can be published in any language. We strongly encourage exiled media technologists, especially Russians and Ukrainians, to apply. 

Eligibility

• You must be a working journalist or media technologist either in a full-time or freelance capacity, with a demonstrated portfolio of work.
• You must be a member of ICFJ’s Network (i.e. an alumni of ICFJ’s programs, an ICFJ award winner, a member of the ICFJ Pamela Howard Forum on Global Crisis Reporting, etc.).
• Eligible Nationalities and/or Citizens in Eligible Regions (including Exiled Media): Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Baltics, Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

This initiative is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and ICFJ's It Takes a Journalist campaign which we designed to help journalists meet the most urgent challenges of today. We are grateful to the dozens of individual donors who have contributed to the campaign fund to date, allowing us to flexibly deploy resources where they are most needed.

For more information on the campaign, contact Vjollca Shtylla at vshtylla@icfj.org.