Apply Now for a BIRN Reporting Democracy Grant

Grants
June 5, 2026
Application ends: July 1, 2026
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Opportunity Description

From Poznań to Podgorica, and from Prague to Plovdiv, journalists across Central and Southeast Europe are invited to pitch ideas for in-depth reporting projects on issues shaping democracy across the region.

This grant opportunity, covering fees and field research expenses, will allow journalists to report on a range of topics, from politics and economy to human rights, corruption, the rule of law, and security, that they feel need to be explored in-depth and brought to the attention of the wider public.

Grants worth €1.500 are available for professional freelance or staff journalists and teams, with ideas for investigative, analytical, or feature stories. Reporting Democracy will provide editorial support and a platform for publishing and distributing stories.

Deadline for submitting applications is July 1, 2026

General rules for call for applications:

Grants are available for journalists from across the Visegrad and Balkan region (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece).

Formal applicants can be:

  • individual journalists, working as part of newsroom structures as well as freelancers;
  • teams with the designated team leader being the contract signatory.

A maximum of six grants will be awarded in this cycle. And each applicant may submit only one application under this grant scheme.

Amount per grant: EUR 1.500.

Eligible expenses include:

  • fee;
  • travel expenses;
  • various production costs (documents, videographer, photographer, etc).

How to apply:

Applicants should use the RD grants application form to submit the application (LINK).

The application form should be completed in English.

Additional documentation can be submitted in an online format.

Clarifications will only be requested when the information provided is not sufficient to conduct an objective assessment.

The application must be submitted by 23:59 CET on July 1, 2026. In case of additional enquiries, please contact us at: reportingdemocracy@birnnetwork.org

Evaluation and selection:

Step I: Technical evaluation done by BIRN staff to ensure applicants followed the application procedures and submitted all required documents.

Step II: Evaluation by the editorial board will be done to select applicants based on evaluation criteria, including:

  1. Quality of the proposed idea, its relevance, and originality
  2. Feasibility of the proposed plan;
  3. Ability to reach a broad public.

Step III: Notification of applicants.

Successful candidates will be informed within four weeks after the close of the call.

Reporting Democracy is a cross-border journalistic platform dedicated to exploring where democracy is headed across large parts of Europe. In addition to generating a steady stream of features, interviews and analytical pieces by our own correspondents, we support local journalists by commissioning stories and providing grants for in-depth features and investigations.

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