FAQ

NewsSpectrum is a new fellowship programme for minority-language media professionals in the EU. It seeks to encourage partnerships between migrant-language media, and their majority-language counterparts. The NewsSpectrum fellowships aim to enhance cooperation between the two groups and support the sustainability of minority-language media as crucial members of a free and pluralistic media environment in the European Union. They also seek to support media coverage that reports knowledgeably on minority issues and includes the perspective of representatives of minority groups in news coverage.

NewsSpectrum supports minority-language media through two fellowships: the Collaborative Reporting Fellowship and the Professional Placement Fellowship. Both fellowship programmes aim to encourage partnerships with majority-language media in the EU.

The NewsSpectrum programme will also include a series of networking sessions and expert webinars open to minority-language media professionals. The webinars will be calibrated to reflect the specific needs of the minority-language media community, and will be open to all media professionals working in minority-language media.

NewsSpectrum is managed as a partnership between the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages (MIDAS). The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) is a supporting partner.

The NewsSpectrum programme is co-funded as a pilot project by the European Commission (DG Connect), with additional financial support from ERIAC.

To contact us, please use our contact page. You can also contact:

Josh LaPorte (IPI): [email protected]

Anna-Kira Pirhofer (MIDAS): [email protected]

NewsSpectrum offers two types of fellowships for minority-language media professionals: the Collaborative Reporting Fellowship and the Professional Placement Fellowship.

The Collaborative Reporting Fellowship supports reporting projects carried out by journalists working at minority-language media (including regular freelance contributors) in collaboration with a majority-language journalist or media outlet.

The Professional Placement Fellowship supports custom short-term work placements or study visits by minority-language media professionals at majority-language media.

For the purposes of the NewsSpectrum fellowship, a media outlet is considered a “minority-language media outlet” if it produces at least 51% of its content in a language that is a regional or minority language.

A regional or minority language is any language (including migrant and Roma languages) that is not a national official language of the country where the media outlet is based.

Media in the following languages would not be minority-language media.

Media based in Austria: German; media based in Belgium: Dutch, French and German; media based in Bulgaria: Bulgarian; media based in Croatia: Croatian; media based in Cyprus: Greek; media based in Czechia: Czech; media based in Denmark: Danish; media based in Estonia: Estonian; media based in Finland: Finnish and Swedish; media based in France: French; media based in Germany: German; media based in Greece: Greek; media based in Hungary: Hungarian; media based in Ireland: Irish and English; media based in Italy: Italian; media based in Latvia: Latvian; media based in Lithuania: Lithuanian; media based in Luxembourg: French and German; media based in Malta: Maltese and English; media based in Netherlands: Dutch; media based in Poland: Polish; media based in Portugal: Portuguese; media based in Romania: Romanian; media based in Slovakia: Slovak; media based in Slovenia: Slovenia; media based in Spain: Spain; media based in Sweden: Swedish. For media based in the UK, all languages except for English are eligible.

All others would be.

Examples of eligible minority-language media outlets:

• A German-speaking newspaper in Italy
• A Catalan-language television broadcaster in Spain
• A Hungarian-language newspaper in Romania
• A Russian-language news website in Latvia
• An Arabic-language news website in Germany
• A Romani-language radio station in Slovakia

While the fellowship is open to all minority-language media professionals, priority will be given to journalists/freelancers working for media that meet the following criteria:

• publish original content on a regularly scheduled basis (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly). Original means self-produced information that is not republished content or a simple aggregation of news;
• have a track record of quality content;
• have at least 2 employed journalists or regular contributors; and
• an audience based primarily in the EU or the UK.

No – media professionals working at any type of media (print, web, radio, television, etc.) are welcome to participate as fellows. Similarly, all types of media outlets can be majority-language partners or hosts.

Yes. Media professionals who work for a minority-language service of a larger media outlet can also apply.

Yes.

Both NewsSpectrum fellowships involve a partnership with a “majority-language” media outlet.

The majority-language media outlet can be any media outlet based in the EU or the UK that publishes at least 51% of its content in a language that is the national or official language of the country where it is based. All types of media are eligible: print, web, radio, television, etc.

Examples:

• A Danish-language newspaper in Denmark
• A German-language broadcaster in Germany
• A Hungarian-language news site in Hungary

It is completely up to you where you would like to do your fellowship and with which majority-media outlet. Once you or your media outlet have identified the right partner, it is up to you how to contact them.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to secure a reporting partner or host organisation before applying to the fellowship. This will increase your chances of being selected. However, the NewsSpectrum project partners stand ready to try to connect fellows with a suitable partner. If you are applying for the Professional Placement Fellowship and you don’t have a partner, you can still fill out and send the application form, or contact us for help.

Yes. UK-based media professionals and media outlets are fully eligible, both as minority-language fellows and majority-language partners.

Yes. Freelance journalists who are regular contributors to minority-language media outlets are also eligible for the fellowship.

No. Media professionals and media outlets must be based in the EU (or the UK) to participate.

Minority-language media professionals can do the fellowship with any majority-language media outlet in the EU or the UK.

Yes! Cross-border fellowships are welcome and encouraged.

Examples:

• A journalist at an Italian-language media outlet in Slovenia carries out a reporting project with an Italian-language media outlet in Italy.
• A journalist at an Arabic-language radio station in Germany carries out a short fellowship at a German-language broadcaster in Austria.

This is up to the fellow and the majority-media partner. The minimum length of the fellowship in most cases is two weeks. Shorter fellowships will also be considered, e.g., in the case of short study visits.

The fellowships can be carried out anytime between June and December 2021. The exact date of the fellowship is completely up to the fellow and the majority-language partner.

Yes.

In-person fellowships are encouraged for both fellowship types, in line with NewsSpectrum’s goal of building sustainable partnerships between minority- and majority-language media. This applies especially to the Professional Placement Fellowship. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote options will be considered, provided that the activities can still be carried out effectively.

Fellowship applicants will need to discuss the options with their majority-language media partner. If both partners agree on a remote fellowship, applicants should describe the details in the application.

Yes, you can, as long as your proposals meet the fellowship criteria.

For both fellowship programmes, the minority-media fellow and the majority-language partner can each apply for up to €6,000 (i.e., a total of €12,000 per fellowship partnership).

Travel costs for the minority-media fellow are covered separately and are not subject to the €6,000 limit.

See the individual fellowship pages for full details. In general, the grant covers salary, local accommodation/subsistence costs, and travel costs. Other costs will be considered according to the specific needs of the fellowship.

See the individual fellowship pages for full details. In general, the grant covers salary costs for relevant staff members, as well as other costs that are relevant to the specific project/fellowship (e.g., travel costs, research costs, admin costs.)

Applicants must use this budget template. Please fill out the budget in accordance with the instructions. If you have questions about the budget, feel free to contact us!

All applications must be submitted in English via the online Good Grants platform. Good Grants is a free-to-use secure platform for submission and storage. It is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, and has multi-factor authentication, encrypted data, multi-tier backups and a secure multi-server architecture in VPC.

After you have read the full eligibility and application information for the fellowship you are applying for, following these steps to apply:

1. The fellowship applicant for both types of fellowships is the media professional working at a minority-language media outlet.
2. Access the Good Grants application platform. You will see the logo of the NewsSpectrum programme.
3. The fellowship applicant will need to create a personal user account to ensure that the application can be submitted securely.
4. Once your account is created, log in and select the fellowship you wish to apply for.
5. Fill out the application following any instructions on the NewsSpectrum website. Applicants can save the application form and return to it until they have completed it and are ready to submit.
6. When you are finished, submit your application. You will receive a confirmation email. Once the application is submitted, it can no longer be edited.

Only applications received via the Good Grants platform in English by the stated date and time will be considered. If you have difficulties, contact us.

No. All applications must be submitted through the Good Grants platform. This is also in the best interest of applicants for data and privacy protection reasons.

NewsSpectrum takes the data security of fellowship applicants and grantees very seriously. All grant applications are submitted and stored via the Good Grants platform. Good Grants is a secure platform for submission and storage. It is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, and multi-factor authentication, encrypted data, multi-tier backups and a secure multi-server architecture in VPC. Each applicant team will be asked to create a personal user account to ensure that applications can be submitted securely so as not to jeopardise the proposed investigation or those involved. The review of applications by the selection committee also takes place on Good Grants, removing the need for further data transfer.

Yes, we ask all applicants to use the budget template provided.

Exception: If you previously prepared a budget in a different format as part of a separate request for funding, you may use that budget instead.

Please consult the Collaborative Reporting Fellowship and Professional Placement Fellowships to see the list of criteria used to select the fellowship recipients.

Final decisions about the fellowship recipients are made by a five-member independent selection committee with expertise on the situation of minority-language media in Europe.

We aim to provide a response to all applications within four weeks. However, decisions can take longer in some cases, such as when an applicant has not yet identified a majority-media partner.

There will be a total of three application periods for the Collaborative Reporting Fellowship and the Professional Placement Fellowship. The second opened on 7 July and closes on 9 August. We expect to open a third application period in September. All Fellowships must be completed by 15/01/22.