SANEF’S SUSTAINABILITY & MEDIA RELIEF FUND
Funding Resources for Journalists and the Media Industry
SANEF COVID19 IMPACT ON JOURNALISM INTERIM REPORT – June 2020
Following the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the media industry, SANEF launched its “Covid19 impact on Journalism” report.
The expectation of the report was that this desktop research would be the starting point to develop a way forward – leading to practical projects to assist journalists and the industry. The report was launched at a webinar: HOW CAN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY SURVIVE COVID19.
The webinar was chaired by EWN’s Editor-in-Chief and former SANEF Chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase with panellists including News24 Editor-in-Chief, Adriaan Basson, SABC’s Editor-in-Chief, Phathiswa Magopeni, AIP Executive Director, Carol Mohlala and media researcher, Reg Rumney.
Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hMAZ9BM7Is
Read the report here: https://sanef.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SANEF-Covid-Impact-Research-Final-Report9-optimized.pdf
SANEF RELIEF FUND FOR JOURNALISTS – July 2020
After launching the report, SANEF decided to take decisive action and launched a Media Relief Fund for journalists who had lost their livelihoods as a direct result of the COVID-19 national disaster. MTN South Africa provided the initial R500 000 seed funding.
The Social Justice Initiative (SJI) agreed to act as our fiscal host for the fund and has played an oversight role to ensure that all funds are fairly and transparently distributed.
https://sanef.org.za/sanef-announces-launch-of-relief-fund-for-journalists/
To date, SANEF has held two rounds of emergency funding. Please see the press statement we released when launching round two of our funding.
https://sanef.org.za/sanef-launches-round-two-of-its-media-relief-fund/
The adjudication of round two is in process.
An independent panel of media stalwarts has taken all the decisions on both round one and round two of the funding.
INVITATION TO APPLY TO SANEF’S RELIEF FUND – 3RD ROUND
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) would like to invite journalists struggling as a result of the Covid crisis to apply for the third round of the Media Relief Fund. We encourage all freelancers, contract journalists, reporters, photographers and production staff in multimedia, print and broadcast who have lost their jobs and income to submit their applications with all relevant and supporting documentation.
This third round is open to those who also received funding in the first and second round but still find themselves jobless.
Please see a link to the application form here
thank you notes from sanef Media relief fund recipients
SANEF Relief Fund Messages
FUNDING AND RESOURCES FOR MEDIA COMPANIES AND JOURNALISTS
Updated 26 October 2020
The pressing need for good reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged a growing list of donors to offer grants to journalists. In addition, offers of aid to publishers are also being made available in light of the increased financial pressures on small businesses. A number of funding deadlines have passed but please see below for those that are open.
Henry Nxumalo Grants for Investigative Reporting (Previously the Taco Kuiper Grants)
Henry Nxumalo Grants are made to encourage investigate journalism in South Africa. A fund of up to R630 000 is available annually. Grants are available for print or online journalists or publications seeking pre-publication help for investigative reporting of public interest. Any amount will be considered.
The grants are administered by Wits Journalism, funded by the Millennium Trust, in memory of the pioneering investigative reporter Henry Nxumalo. Journalists with an investigative project can also approach the Henry Nxumalo Grant Fund for backing to do such a project. Details are to be found here.
The National Geographic Society has launched an emergency fund for journalists around the world who wish to cover COVID-19 within their communities. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis. Grants ranging from $1,000 to $8,000 will be given “for local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of this global pandemic as seen through evidence-based reporting.” The National Geographic fund “will place particular emphasis on delivering news to underserved populations”. The fund is interested in “local and even hyper-local distribution models,” and wants to see stories “of inequities that COVID-19 has brought to light.” Writers, photographers, videographers, audio journalists, cartographers, filmmakers, and data visualization experts may apply for this funding.
International Women’s Media Foundation (Global)– The IWMF’s Journalism Relief Fund is open to women-identifying journalists in dire straits — journalists who have faced significant financial hardship, lost work, were recently laid off or who urgently need assistance to avoid severe, irreversible outcomes. This fund will provide small grants of up to $2,000 per request. Note: Special consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis to those who have greater financial need.
A guide to winning grants to fund your journalism
This guide captures the dynamics and practicalities of pursuing a chunk of the growing pool of grant funding for news. One part how-to, one-part roadmap, one part reference, the sum of the parts is an efficient and application-ready toolkit for news organizations who are beginning to explore grants. Get the guide here.
SANEF will be updating this list regularly. Please notify us at [email protected] if there are any further funds or funding that you know is available.