Applications Invited for NFI Fellowship Programme for Independent Journalists

Follow us @ngobox

About the Organization:

National Foundation for India (NFI) is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. They were set up in February 2000 at Ahmedabad, Gujarat and is India's national initiative to strengthen the grassroots technological innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge. Their mission is to help India become a creative and knowledge-based society by expanding policy and institutional space for grassroots technological innovators.

NFI Fellowships for Independent Journalists

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have multiple impacts on our lives. Existing challenges have been exacerbated and new ones have emerged. Across the country, individuals, communities, businesses and governments are responding differently. Covid has claimed many casualties. Good reportage need not be one of them.

The pandemic and the consequent economic slowdown have also taken its toll on good journalism. At this moment, we need good journalism to be stronger than ever before. Journalists need support to report deeply on stories that matter.

To support credible and independent journalism, the National Foundation for India has launched the media fellowship programme for independent journalists. Under the programme, several grants will be made to independent journalists on a rolling-basis every quarter, beginning November 2020.

What kind of stories can you pitch for the grant?

The story is reported deeply, evidence-based and well-investigated. The story could be a news-break, a news analysis or a news feature. It could be specific to the region or geography you report. We want to support stories that do not stop at merely reporting an incident or an event but draw these out in the context of larger trends in governance, society and the political economy.

The story could be on one of these themes or on the intersection of these themes. This is an indicative list and not an exhaustive one.

• How governments, businesses, people, communities and societies are responding to contemporary challenges in India.
• The political economy of resources, resource-capture and corruption. Contests and conflicts over natural resources
• Malgovernance. Or, good governance.
• Livelihoods and rights of people.
• Public health challenge in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
• Functioning of essential services and social security schemes.
• Workings of businesses and economy that impact society, rights and resources.
• Social cooperation and innovation in the face of new challenges.
• Civic and fundamental rights of citizens.
• Evidence-based trends in how our societies are changing.
• Stories that focus on lives of the most vulnerable.

Who can apply?

Journalists who meet the following two criteria:

• Independent journalist not engaged on a full-time basis with any media organisation.
• Journalists residing in India outside the six metropolitan cities of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkota, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Fellowship:

• The inaugural round is in English. The subsequent rounds would be open to Indian languages as well.
• This program provides journalists with both financial and editorial support throughout the grant-period cycles.
• Each grantee will be given INR 30,000 to publish one story on a broad range of themes and issues of public interest, reported in depth over one month.
• If required, NFI will provide editorial support to guide and help the grantee to report better.
• NFI will aid the grantee in publishing the stories with different media organisations.

Deadline: December 15, 2020

For more information please check the Link