1,115 applications came from 2,069 applicants – freelance journalists and newsrooms combined – already exceeding, in eight months, the 2024 total of 830 applications from 1,830 applicants.
351 proposals have been approved this year so far, and teams have received funding to carry those projects out.
Applications have come from 83 countries, with grantees eventually based in 60 of them.
In July’s latest round alone, 99 proposals were submitted to the Environmental Investigative Journalism grant programme, requesting a total of €2,431,127. A further 11 teams applied for the Fossil Fuels grant, seeking €556,860. So in total, 110 proposals focused on environmental and fossil fuel issues, with funding requests approaching €3 million. These investigations range from climate crisis reporting to local ecosystem and biodiversity protection – stories increasingly prioritised by journalists and sought after by audiences.
Beyond that, we received 124 proposals for the Environmental Investigative Journalism grant programme in ealier round this year, 126 applications for the European Cross-Border grants, 44 for Local Cross-Border, 246 for the Pluralistic Media for Democracy programme, and more in other grants.
The appetite to investigate is strong, the ideas are ready, and the journalists are at the starting line. All that’s needed is the support to bring these stories into the light. For those who believe in holding power to account, the opportunities to make a difference are right here.
