Journ foundation opens 2nd round of reporting grants

MANILA, Philippines – The Journalism for Nation Building Foundation (JNBF) announces a second round of grants for in-depth and investigative reporting on these themes: justice, corruption and transparency, peace and conflict, and environment.

For the first round of grants, which concluded recently, the JNBF chose to award Ana Santos, a freelance journalist, for her comprehensive and detailed pitch on the business of wedding annulments. Her work will look into corruption in courts known as annulment mills and lawyers in annulment scams.

The JNBF, an offshoot of Newsbreak, launched this program to encourage long-form reporting in this digital age.

The theme of justice covers rule of law, crime and the courts; environment, peace and conflict likewise cover a range of issues. For corruption and transparency, focus is on the government.

Length of stories is a minimum of 10,000 words and a maximum of 30,000 words.

Two qualified applicants will each be given a grant of P100,000 apart from research expenses. They will be given 3 months to complete their research and writing.

Journalists – freelance or staff members of news organizations in the Philippines – with a considerable body of work are invited to apply. They are required to prepare a 3-page brief to include subject and expected findings, a story outline, plan of action, and budget for research.

Proposals should be tightly written and specific, which means the applicant must have done initial research on the subject.

Applicants should also submit their CV. Those who applied for the first round and did not make it are welcome to pitch again.

Deadline for submission of proposals is August 15. These should be sent by e-mail to jnbf2015@gmail.com.

Winners will be announced middle of September.

The JNBF is an independent, non-profit organization that produces public-interest works in various platforms. Founded in August 2011, the foundation seeks to promote in-depth journalism that provides context to important issues and pushes for greater transparency and accountability of officials and institutions.

JNBF is composed of Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Glenda Gloria, Chay Hofileña, Roel Landingin, and Miriam Grace Go. 

Please direct all queries to Cecille Santos at jnbf2015@gmail.com or at (02) 661-9985. – Rappler.com