Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants
Reach your audience in new ways
Media outlets from 10 Balkan and Visegrad countries are invited to apply for grants, training, mentoring, and access to BIRN鈥檚 innovative audience-engagement digital tool.
calls on media outlets to involve their audiences in reporting by applying for Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants.
This innovative approach places the audience as a direct and active participant in content creation, fostering trust and stronger relationships between media outlets and their communities, ultimately making them more credible and reliable sources of information.
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About the project
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The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants are part of the project听Media Innovation Europe: Independence Through Sustainability (MIE). This two-year initiative is led by the International Press Institute (IPI) and its consortium partners, The Fix Foundation, BIRN and Thomson Media (TM). The project focuses on building networks, providing consultancy and offering guidance to participating newsrooms.
The first edition of Media Innovation Europe was launched in June 2022 to invigorate the European ecosystem for independent and local journalism. As part of this initiative, media outlets produced a range of audience-engaged stories, some of which you can read here:
Do you want to engage your audience and build trust within your community while addressing underreported issues? Submit your original story proposal and share details about the community you wish to engage.
What are we offering?
Grants for individual stories听of up to 鈧�4,000.
Grants for cross-border stories听of up to 鈧�8,000.
Four-day online training听on audience engagement.
Mentoring听throughout the project.
Access to a digital tool听to enhance audience engagement.
In this circle BIRN will fund听up to nine media outlets听to strengthen their reporting and investigate underreported issues within diverse communities. Stories focusing on marginalized communities, youth and women are strongly encouraged.
Media outlets will utilise the audience-engagement tool developed by BIRN to crowdsource, gather and analyse data from their communities. Audience-engaged journalism seeks to bridge the gap between newsrooms and their audiences, transforming journalism into a service that directly responds to the needs of the community.
Who is eligible to apply?
Media outlets from the following 10 Balkan and Visegrad countries may apply: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.
Selection criteria
After a successful听, in the second cycle BIRN will fund听up to six media outlets听to strengthen their reporting and investigate underreported issues within diverse communities. Stories focusing on marginalised communities, youth and women are strongly encouraged.
Media outlets will utilise the audience-engagement tool developed by BIRN to crowdsource, gather and analyse data from their communities. Audience-engaged journalism seeks to bridge the gap between newsrooms and their audiences, transforming journalism into a service that directly responds to the needs of the community.
How to apply:
To learn more about the grants, click听听to read the full call for applications. After reviewing the information, follow the听.
BIRN will also organise听two information sessions, and registration is open:
Information session: 24 April 2025 at 9:00 (CET), register听.
Information session: 29 May 2025 at 14:00 (CET),听register听
Deadline for application is 18 JUNE 2025.
The Audience Engaged Journalism Grants Cohort:
鉃� 2025 programme cycle听
Kosovo 2.0, Kosovo
Atlatszo, Hungary
Lice v Lice, North Macedonia
Koha, North Macedonia
Zoomer, Serbia
鉃� previous programme cycle
Fondacioni Kujto (Two-Time Grantee), Albania
Mjedisi.al, Albania
Elbasanion, Albania
Amfora, Albania
Capital.ba, Bosnia and Herzegovina
UPS Media, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Radio Zos, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Radio Zenit, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Fokus (Two-Time Grantee), Bosnia and Herzegovina
Info Radar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Samizdat, Czech Republic
Romea, Czech Republic
Atlatszo, Hungary
Borsod 24, Hungary
Kosovo 2.0, Kosovo
Enigma Gazeta, Kosovo
Roditelji, Montenegro
Lice v Lice, North Macedonia
TV Kanal Vis, North Macedonia
鉃� previous programme cycle
TRN, North Macedonia
Koha, North Macedonia
Suboticke, Serbia
Oko Info, Serbia
Radio Kiss, Serbia
Jugpress, Serbia
Zoomer, Serbia
For further updates, follow BIRN on听,听听or听.
For clarifications, contact the Project Coordinator:听[email protected].
