Pulitzer Center Update

Open Call for Proposals: Independent Media Organizations and Property Rights

The sharp contrast in land use between the Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course and a slum in Durban, South Africa is exposed using Google Maps.

UPDATE: The deadline for this grant opportunity has passed.  We plan to notify the grantees by July 15, 2017.  We appreciate your patience.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a grant-giving non-profit organization that supports independent global journalism, is seeking applications from independent media organizations with creative ideas to innovatively surface and report information on property rights and land-related issues in their region.  This grant opportunity is intended for independent media organizations based outside the United States.

We eagerly await proposals from enterprising news media collectives that will reveal new perspectives and increase transparency about under-reported property rights issues, such as land tenure, indigenous land rights, land deals, concessions, resource rights, and overlapping land use rights— just to name a few. 

You understand which forms of engagement best suit your audience and local context— print (newspapers, news magazines,) broadcast (radio and television,) and/or digital and mobile publication.   We are open to pitches that involve innovative and creative approaches to storytelling that may include for example, the use of crowd-sourced content, smart phone and online apps, open and transparent databases, animations, data visualizations, sensor reporting, as well as aerial photography or geospatial imagery.  Of course, you know how best to tell the story!

We will select three separate projects for micro-grants this year. We will consider projects of any scope and size.  During this special grant opportunity, we will award three grants for a total of $25,000.  Please choose a team leader to submit the proposal and submit only one project per journalist, news team, or newsroom.

Selection criteria for media to participate:

  • Committed to providing credible, independent news, information or public interest debate.
  • Independent from the government or of any other political or economic interest group.
  • Supportive of democratic practices and institutions, political pluralism, transparency, human rights, including the rights of women and minorities, and inter-ethnic coexistence.
  • Legally registered, except in extraordinary circumstances.
  • In regular operation for at least one year. A record of quality journalism and reporting. In compelling circumstances this requirement may be waived.

This grant opportunity is now open, and applicants are encouraged to submit their proposals for this opportunity by May 1, 2017Apply here. Be sure to select the box marked "Micro-grants for Independent Media" on the application.

To apply, please include the following:

  • A description of the proposed project, including distribution plan, no more than 250 words.
  • A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs, such as travel costs, any software or hardware costs, or any costs for hiring contract personnel for the project. Please do not include stipends for journalists/team members who are in the employ of newsrooms or are being paid by a publisher.
  • Three samples of the team leader's published work.
  • Three professional references for the team leader. These can be either contact information, or letters of recommendation. The latter is encouraged when letters from interested producers or editors are available.
  • A copy of the team leader's curriculum vitae.
  • Applications may also include a more detailed description of project but this will be considered as optional supplement only. The most important part of the submission is the 250-word summary.

Applications may also include a more detailed description of project but this will be considered as optional supplement only. The most important part of the submission is the 250-word summary.