Looking to expand your journalism toolkit, receive funding for a project, or submit your work for recognition? Check out these fellowships, grants and competitions with deadlines in May. Each opportunity is open to journalists worldwide.
Contest seeks photos of human rights issues, anti-corruption efforts
Deadline: May 1, 2020
Professional and amateur photographers who cover human rights issues or anti-corruption efforts can apply for The Allard Prize, focusing on themes of courage and leadership in combating corruption. Learn more here.
Grants fund investigative journalism
Deadline: May 4, 2020
The Fund for Investigative Journalism is offering grants to support investigative projects that break new ground and expose wrongdoing in the public and private sectors. Proposals must come from U.S.-based reporters or international journalists whose stories have a U.S. angle. Click here for more information.
[Read more: 9 ways to improve journalism grant applications]
Documentary film contest
Deadline: May 10, 2020
The International Documentary Film Festival Flahertiana is accepting entries for its 2020 contest. The festival, named in honor of American filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty, will take place in September in Russia. Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit their works. Learn more here.
Legal assistance fund calls for partnerships
Deadline: May 10, 2020
UNESCO is seeking nongovernmental organizations, media associations, and others to join as partners in the Global Media Defense Fund to enhance media protection and improve the access of journalists to specialized legal assistance. Preference will be given to proposals impacting regions or countries where safety of journalists is more at risk. Click here for more information.
Photo contest highlights peaceful coexistence
Deadline: May 24, 2020
The Alfred Fried Photography Award, renamed as the Global Peace Photo Award, seeks photos that capture human efforts toward a peaceful world, and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives. The winner will receive a cash prize. Learn more here.
[Read more: COVID-19: Uncharted territory for freelance photojournalists]
Freelance, local journalism contest open
Deadline: May 31, 2020
The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund, in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is organizing the Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism, honoring the work of freelance journalists and local reporters and fixers in developing countries or nations in transition who often otherwise receive little recognition. Click here for more information.
COVID-19 relief funding
Due to the pandemic, many journalists have lost work or funding. They are facing financial hardship, and lack the resources to carry out critical reporting initiatives during this challenging time. We’re including a list of additional funding opportunities related to COVID-19. Not all of these opportunities are global, so pay attention to the requirements.
Support for European journalism organizations
Deadline: Rolling
The European Journalism Centre and the Facebook Journalism Project have established the European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund to support community engagement, address critical business needs and facilitate coverage of the pandemic. Learn more here.
Fund to support women journalists facing hardship
Deadline: Rolling
Women-identifying and non-binary journalists facing financial hardship can apply for funding from the International Women Media's Foundation’s is accepting candidates for its Journalism Relief Fund. It is intended for journalists who have lost work, were recently laid off or urgently need assistance. Click here for more information.
Grants to support U.S. coronavirus-related investigations
Deadline: Rolling
Journalists of color covering the impact of the coronavirus in U.S. ethnic communities are invited to apply for this program from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Learn more here.
Financial support for local coverage of the pandemic
Deadline: Rolling
National Geographic has launched the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, which will support local coverage of the preparation, response and impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. Click here to learn more.
Writers’ Emergency Fund for U.S. journalists
Deadline: Rolling
PEN America is expanding its Writers’ Emergency Fund in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journalists, fiction and nonfiction authors, playwrights, screenwriters and translators can apply for support due to an inability to meet an acute financial need. Learn more here.
Main image CC-licensed by Unsplash via Chronis Yan.
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