News - journalism partnerships - collaborations

Scope

The news media sectors play a crucial role in the diversity, independence and trustworthiness of the information space. Despite being essential to our democracies, these sectors are facing multiple challenges. The economic sustainability of professional journalism has come under pressure, partially as a result of the digital transformation, with readers shifting to online sources and traditional news outlets losing advertising revenues. Many media at the local level as well as those focusing on public interest mission news struggle to survive, which may weaken media pluralism as well as engagement and trust in democracy.

In line with the European Democracy Shield, this call addresses media challenges and opportunities of a transnational nature by supporting projects specialising in:

Topic 1. “Journalism Partnerships - Collaborations” This topic seeks to help the wider European news media sector become more sustainable and resilient, including small media. Support is foreseen for collaborative projects in and between any news media (sub)sector and/or genre that aim to enhance cooperation, help media adapt to new economic and consumption realities and instil systemic change across that (sub)sector.

Priorities

Projects must focus on ways to develop collaborative transformation, from a business, technological and/or production point of view.

Projects can aim to develop, inter alia, better revenue and monetisation models, strategies to mutualise costs, new approaches to audience development, community-building and marketing, development of common professional/technical standards, new types of newsrooms, syndication networks or other models to exchange content/data between news media across the EU or provide assistance to small media organisations. They can aim to increase efficiency and the quality of reporting through innovative journalistic collaborations. Projects can test innovative production methods and formats or contribute to high-quality media production standards in other collaborative ways. Projects can aim to increase exchanges of best practices among journalists and optimise workflows for those journalism genres requiring more time and resources. Projects can also aim to reskill or upskill media professionals, in particular with a view of enhancing skills related to the use of new technologies such AI systems for journalism.

Proposals may address one or more of the priorities outlined above, if relevant and based on the needs analysis of the chosen (sub)sector. The proposal should provide this needs analysis and explain how the proposed activities will work towards addressing the identified challenges.

Activities

Activities can include events, online trainings and workshops for media professionals, exchange programmes, mentoring schemes, mapping of best practices, sector-wide development of technical standards, development of guidelines and editorial standards, production of practical guidebooks, development and testing of platforms and technical solutions to exchange ideas and best practices, promotional activities, or other activities that aim to uphold the viability of the sector. Sharing of best practices between operators in media markets/countries/regions with different and diverse characteristics (in terms of languages, production volumes, sizes, digitalisation levels etc.) is encouraged, to promote mutual learning. Applicants are encouraged to consider activities supporting media sectors lacking the means of adapting to the digital environment.

Financial support to third parties will be accepted in projects which foresee exchange programmes for journalists and other media professionals, support to attend trainings or events, support to journalists and media outlets for collaborative journalistic projects, support for legal advice, support for the acquisition, development or maintenance of technical tools for collaborative journalism, support for events in these fields and/or prizes for collaboration or innovation. In such cases, applicants must define the terms under which this financial support to third parties would take place and ensure a fair and transparent process.

In all cases, the choice of activities should be based on their potential to instil systemic change in the chosen subsector.

Projects must include concrete deliverables and set clear, objectively verifiable and quantifiable performance indicators for the mid-term and the end of the project. The estimated impact must be more precise than the sum of available distribution channels and should be substantiated by a detailed outreach plan as well as proof of interest from the target groups.

All projects need to respect widely accepted professional media standards. The chosen standards and the relevant mechanisms to ensure them should be indicated in the proposal and confirmed with a signed Declaration on Standards & Independence (Annexed to the Application form). Partnerships involving editorial work must operate with full editorial independence.

All Partnerships should consider the ecological footprint of the activities they propose, and where relevant, describe the strategies to ensure a more sustainable and environmentally-respectful media sectors.