About us

According to a 2021 report, local media news outlets are the most disrupted sector of the media and urgently in need of assistance. But this sector has the greatest potential to form the bedrock for a new, stronger media ecosystem.

Therefore, we are a consortium composed of renowned and experienced organisations in the field of journalism that, with the Local Cross-Border Journalism grant programme, aim to stimulate and increase the production of cross-border local investigative journalism across Europe, and make the European independent local news media sector more sustainable and resilient.

Local Cross-Border Journalism Grant Programme consists of:

a grant and mentoring programme for cross-border local investigative journalism
a safety and risk assessment training for journalists
a mini-MBA management and sustainability training programme for local media outlet managers
an investigative journalism training programme for local journalists
a wide dissemination of the supported stories among the European public, and of the learnings and knowledge among the journalistic community across Europe

We cover a vast network of professional journalists all over Europe and we will support innovative journalistic collaborations, standards and formats. We believe that with our knowledge and experience, we will realise the potential of the sector and the players, across countries and regions with different and diverse media capabilities, contributing to enhancing a free, diverse and pluralistic media environment and quality journalism in the digital environment.

Consortium

Journalismfund Europe

As the coordinator and leading partner in this project, Journalismfund Europe is a non-profit organisation based in Brussels. Its mission is to promote democracy by advancing independent cross-border investigative journalism in Europe. Journalismfund Europe is already an established name in the European investigative journalism community, and even beyond. The grant and mentoring programme for cross-border local investigations in this project will be open for teams of local journalists and/or media outlets from at least two different countries.

Transitions

Transitions (TOL) is a non-profit organisation based in Prague, with a mission of supporting high-quality, independent journalism and an informed and engaged public. TOL runs a wide variety of journalism and media training programmes, and publishes Transitions magazine, which focuses on Central and Eastern Europe. Through this project, Transitions will first assess the most crucial needs of the European journalism community and then design an online training programme built on highly interactive modules created with the latest e-learning tools.

SSE Riga

The SSE Riga Centre for Media Studies was established in 2009, on the premise that independent media play a critical role in improving government accountability and reducing corruption. The Centre strives to strengthen cross-border investigative journalism and sustainable media businesses by way of training programme, networking, and support. The SSE Riga mini-MBA programme for media managers is unique in Europe, as it is especially tailored to the needs of media workers in terms of time (four weeks over the course of a year) and applicability (throughout the training participants apply the knowledge in creating their own media development plan). Through this project, SSE Riga will deliver a mini-MBA programme for 20 motivated investigative journalists from Europe, who are in management positions.

European Federation of Journalists

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest journalists’ organisation in Europe representing over 300,000 journalists in 72 journalists’ organisations across 45 European countries. It covers a wide geographical area in the Creative Europe programme and all types of media outlets, ensuring that this initiative reaches the many journalists who would benefit from its main elements, including the possibility to collaborate across borders with their colleagues.