African Fact-Checking Awards
Journalists and journalism students across the continent can enter the awards. To qualify, entries must have first been published or broadcast on any date from 23 August 2020 to 31 July 2021. They should expose a claim on an important topic that originated in or is relevant to Africa as either misleading or wrong. The winner of the working journalist category will get a prize of US$3,000, while the runner-up will be awarded $1,500. The winner of the student journalist category will get a prize of $2,000, and the runner-up $1,000. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 1
Rory Peck Awards
For over 25 years, the Rory Peck Awards has been celebrating the work of freelance journalists working in news and current affairs worldwide. These are the freelance reporters, filmmakers, photojournalists and camera operators who play a vital role in international newsgathering – and in keeping independent journalism alive. Across four categories, the Awards honour quality and impact of work but also take into account individual endeavour and journalistic integrity. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 4
MY World 360˚
MY World 360º invites immersive creators – media pros and first time creators alike – to create media that allows us to experience a world turned around – a new reimagined world in which the SDGs are a reality- and that inspires people everywhere to take part in the bold and transformative action needed to solve the issues we face. MY World 360º is calling for immersive experiences that take viewers on a journey to #TurnItAround for people and the planet. Creators are invited to create media, from augmented reality, virtual reality, 360° video and photography, to 3D design to show the multi-dimensionality of their local communities and creative visions for a better world. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 5
The Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
The National Center on Disability and Journalism is now accepting entries for the 2021 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, the only journalism contest devoted exclusively to disability coverage. Winners will receive a total of $8,000 in cash awards in large media and small media categories. First-place winners in each category will be awarded $2,500 and invited to give a public lecture for the Cronkite School in fall 2021. Second-place winners will receive $1,000 and third-place winners $500. Journalists working in digital, print and broadcast media are eligible to enter. Entries are accepted from outside the U.S., although the work submitted must be in English. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 7
Daniele Tamagni Grant
Young and emerging photographers around the world whose work explores Africa, the African identity or its diaspora can apply. The Market Photo Workshop, in partnership with Addis Foto Festival, is offering the Daniele Tamagni Grant. The program aims to support the new generation of photographers by providing the tools and guidance they need to create new work and tell stories to enrich the African identity. The recipient of the grant will receive a one year scholarship to enroll in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the Market Photo Workshop School in Johannesburg, South Africa. A monthly stipend of R10,000 (US$650) for 12 months will be given to the recipient to cover accommodation, meals and other out of pocket expenses during the program. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 10
Fellowships to Attend the 12th Global Investigative Journalism Conference
The 2021 Global Investigative Journalism Conference is this November 1-5, and for the first time, we’re doing it all online. The conference is a seminal international event in investigative journalism, featuring practical panels and workshops on the latest investigative techniques, data analysis, online research, cross-border collaboration, and more by the best journalists in the field. Admission is just $100 USD — for five days of programs — but if you can’t afford that, GIJN is offering fellowships to journalists in developing and transitioning countries. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 17
SANEF launches local elections training webinars
The South African National Editors’ Forum offers newsroom training on local government, municipal finances and elections reporting. The training is part of SANEF’s ongoing capacity building and investment in democracy and governance reporting skills and resources to ensure that journalists provide the public with fair, balanced and accurate information to rely on when they prepare for voting day. The training sessions kick off in August and will run into September (and beyond, if necessary), and can be attended free of charge upon registration by journalists from mainstream and community media. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 17
Operational Support Grants
Africa No Filter offers Operational Support Grants to not-for-profit organisations aligned to our mission. Applicants must be based in Africa and the Diaspora (work must benefit African creatives, artists or storytellers).Funds can be used to cover operational costs to keep the organisation going whilst it conducts its work. Operational Support Grants are open to creative hubs, narrative change organisations, media houses, festivals, galleries, digital platforms etc., that support individual storytellers. This can be through program delivery, job creation, residences, networking opportunities, training and capacity building creatives, artists, journalists etc. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 27
Project Support Grants
Africa No Filter is happy to announce that our new funding cycle is open. We are looking for media organizations, initiatives, platforms and Individuals that understand the importance of nuanced and creative storytelling about Africa to shift stereotypical narratives. Our Project-Support Grants support the delivery of creative projects on the continent by storytellers and media platforms that are using art, innovation, tech and creativity to challenge stereotypical narratives about Africa. Grants must be for a specific project, with a clear start and end date and project milestones. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 27
Convening Grants
Africa No Filter is happy to announce that our new funding cycle is open. We are looking for media organizations, initiatives, platforms and Individuals that understand the importance of nuanced and creative storytelling about Africa to shift stereotypical narratives. Our Convening Grants support the facilitation of exchanges, conversations, dialogues and debates about narratives of Africa and how these narratives are built and sustained. At Africa No Filter, we strongly believe in supporting the narrative-change community and amplifying the voices of stakeholders on the continent and in the African diaspora on issues that shape perceptions about Africa. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 27
Innovators in Residence Call for Applications
The Aga Khan University, Media Innovation Centre, together with its partners DW Akademie and Media Challenge Initiative (MCI) is looking for the brightest media minds from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to join our 2021-2022 Innovators-in-Residence program, a 12-month incubation and accelerator program that provides mentorship, training and coaching to media innovators in East Africa. The Aga Khan University, Media Innovation Centre is offering a grant of up to $20,000 to accelerate or incubate nine media start-ups from rural and urban areas in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 31
The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships
Early-career professional journalists from developing countries with proficiency in English can apply for a six-month fellowship. Alfred Friendly provides fellows with basic and advanced hands-on instruction at the Missouri School of Journalism and places them in leading U.S. newsrooms. The successful candidate will be 25-35 years old and have at least three years of experience as a journalist at a print, online or broadcast media outlet. Participants work as staff reporters in their host newsrooms are required to develop training plans that they implement when they return to their home newsrooms. The all-inclusive fellowship starts in mid-March and ends in early September. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 31
Grants to investigate environmental crimes in Africa
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, working with the Henry Nxumalo Foundation and the Oxpeckers Centre for Investigative Environmental Journalism, is offering grants to journalists to investigate environmental crime in Africa. The grants are intended to enable and encourage the exposure of environmental crime of any sort and to give journalists the time and resources to do this kind of reporting. Grants will range from $1 000 to $5 000, depending on the scope of the investigation, and the work must be completed within four months. Any journalist or team of journalists may apply, and the work may be done in any medium/media. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | August 31
The African Arguments Pilot Fellowship for Young Freelancers
The African Arguments fellowship is a mentorship and training programme for young freelancers based on the continent. It is aimed at African journalists under the age of 30 who are committed to building the skills necessary for a sustainable career as a freelancer. The fellowship is designed to fit into (rather than disrupt) the chosen journalists’ already busy schedules and help them develop. Students must commit to attending all online training and complete all commissioned pieces. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | September 5
Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award
The Young Journalist Award – in partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association – is Thomson Foundation’s annual journalism competition dedicated to finding and inspiring ambitious journalists from across the globe. Now in its ninth year, the award enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000, to send in their best stories. Judges of the award look for stories that are revelatory, prompt public debate and have led to, or have the potential to lead to, positive change in society. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | September 10
Photo contest highlights gender equality [Morocco]
Amateur photographers aged 18 to 35 in Morocco are invited to participate in this contest. The UN Women Morocco, the Embassy of France, the French Institute of Morocco and the French Development Agency are accepting photos that capture “the equality in streets”. Contestants must submit photographs that share the theme of gender equality, gender-based violence, justice and economic rights, technologies and innovations for gender equality, and feminist movements and leadership. For details and to apply click here.
Deadline | September 15
Norbert Zongo African Investigation Journalism Award- PAJI-NZ 2021
PAJI-NZ is intended to reward the work of African journalists from the print, radio, television and online press who have carried out quality investigations into corruption, organized crime, human rights violations, governance, environmental crime, terrorism, etc. The candidate for PAJI-NZ must be an African journalist regularly employed in a press organ or collaborating regularly with one or more media outlets; or a non-African journalist residing in Africa at least two years before the nomination and working on Africa. PAJI-NZ will award an award to the best production in each category (print media, radio, television, online press) and a special award called the “SEGBO D’OR” to the best of all productions, in all categories combined. Any production to be submitted for PAJI-NZ must have been published between May 03, 2019 and May 03, 2021. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | September 15
Cullman Center Fellowship
Journalists, writers and others working on a book project can apply for this fellowship in New York. The New York Public Library’s Cullman Center will select 15 fellows for a nine-month term at the Library, from September 2022 through May 2023. Fellows work on their own projects and engage in an ongoing exchange of ideas within the Center and in public forums throughout the Library. The fellowship provides up to US$75,000, an office, a computer and full access to the Library’s resources to each fellow. International candidates fluent in English and visual artists at work on a book project are also welcome to apply. For details and to apply click here.
Deadline | September 24
Film festival open for entries [Cameroon]
African documentary filmmakers are invited to submit their work. The Semaine du Cinéma festival, which promotes African cinema, is launching the call for films for its second edition. The festival has four categories: feature films, short films, series (two episodes to submit) and documentaries. The selected films will have access to networking and opportunities to project their productions. For details and to apply click here.
Deadline | September 30
Rainforest Journalism Fund
The Pulitzer Center invites journalists working on projects related to tropical rainforests to submit a proposal to the Rainforest Journalism Fund. The Pulitzer Center will pay for costs associated with reporting projects on tropical rainforests, with an emphasis on issues that have gone unreported or under-reported in the local media. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | Rolling
Rapid Response Fund
The Rapid Response Fund aims to facilitate the digital emergency response community to resolve threats in a timely and comprehensive manner for individuals, communities, and organisations whose free expression has recently been repressed. To resolve digital emergencies, OTF offers both direct financial support as well as technical services from trusted partners to high-risk people and organisations, such as bloggers, cyber activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | Rolling
Howard G. Buffett Fund For Women Journalists
The Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists, the first funding initiative of its kind, enables the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to dramatically expand its support of women journalists. Promoting the work and advancing the role of women in the news media across the globe is critical to transparency and a diversity of voices. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | Rolling
Baraza Media Lab Incubator
This 12-month program welcomes both for-profit and non-profit organizations, as well as individuals and teams who wish to create an organization or implement a specific innovative project in the media space. The incubatees will receive a $2,500 stipend, strategic mentoring and training, workplace essentials and much more. For details and to apply, click here.
Deadline | Rolling
Thomson Foundation: News Writing: The art of storytelling
This course is designed to teach you how to write news stories in an effective and engaging way using techniques employed by Ewen MacAskill and other journalists around the world. Ewen will teach you when and how to go beyond the inverted pyramid model of storytelling to make your stories stand out and to make you a better storyteller.
This is a first of a three-course series on news writing. In courses 2 and 3, Ewen will take you through more advanced techniques and the art of news analysis
Deadline | Rolling
