Media Invited to Apply for Fund to Cover Development Stories
Media projects which promote a positive image of Africa will be considered favourably by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund, an initiative to increase public understanding of global development issues. Details of the 2011 Funding rounds were announced today (30.03.11) at the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre.
The Simon Cumbers Media Fund was established by Irish Aid in memory of Irish journalist Simon Cumbers, who was killed in Saudi Arabia while working with the BBC in 2004.The aim of the fund is to promote more and better quality coverage of development issues in the Irish media.
Under the fund, journalists are invited to submit proposals for coverage of a development issue, which will involve travel to a developing country. The deadline for the 2011 summer round of funding is Friday, 22nd April. A winter round will be announced in September.
In 2011, applicants to the fund whose proposed projects aim to promote a more positive understanding of Africa will be favoured by the judges. Equally, projects which seek to explore the theme of hunger in development will also be considered favourably.
Speaking at today’s launch, Minister for State for Trade and Development, Jan O’Sullivan TD said: “We all share this small and fragile planet. The global crises which have struck us over recent years have made it clear that what happens in one country increasingly affects those who live in other countries. We cannot hope to have a safe and secure world unless we tackle poverty, injustice and inequality.
“The media has an important role to play in this effort, by informing and educating your audiences about the hunger, poverty and injustice that afflict so many millions of our fellow human beings and have implications for our future also.
“But, while the challenges are immense, we must also focus on the progress that is being achieved through targeted partnerships between governments, communities in the developing world and international donors. I would urge you to do more to report the good news – the many things that are working in Africa – rather than portraying it, as is often the case, as the continent where things go wrong.
“The media is a powerful force for change. You can drive national and international action by raising awareness and understanding of the problems facing communities in the developing world and the solutions which exist.
“Irish Aid also has a duty to communicate with the Irish public about how funds are being rigorously targeted to build the futures of families struggling under the burden of hunger and poverty. The Simon Cumbers Media Fund is an important part of this effort,” added Minister O’Sullivan.
In offering the details of the forthcoming round of the Simon Cumbers Media Fund, the Chairperson of the judging panel, Bob Collins, said: “This is a difficult time for media organisations. The domestic news agenda has become so busy that considerable resources are now being invested into keeping up with this, right across all media platforms. This constrains the capacity to cover issues around development, and the space to report these stories.
“Furthermore, as with most organisations operating within the domestic market, media organisations are feeling the pinch and one of the areas that budget-reductions have been made is that of travel. This could have the potential of pushing stories concerning development further off the media agenda.
“Nevertheless, there is still a huge appetite among the Irish media to cover development issues, largely in part because of our tradition of supporting development. The Simon Cumbers’ Media Fund is one way of assisting the media to cover stories that it might otherwise not have the resources to cover,” he said.
Under the Simon Cumber Media Fund, members of the media are assisted with travel, accommodation and other ancillary costs that are associated with travelling abroad to cover a story. In 2010, the average award made to each successful applicant was €3,200. The maximum allocation under the Fund is €10,000.
“In 2011, we are hoping to receive high standards of applications from across a range of disciplines: be it news, business, sport or lifestyle media. We’re also keen to see responses from a range of platforms: national and regional print; broadcast media and online media, or a combination of all of these,” said Bob Collins.
Two workshops for all media personnel interested in applying to the Simon Cumbers Media Fund will take place on Tuesday, 5th April at the Westin Hotel, Dublin, from 10.30am to 1pm and on Thursday, 7th April at the Meyrick Hotel, Galway from 10.30am to 1pm.
ENDS.
CONTACT: Catherine Heaney / Lydia Ishak, DHR Communications @ 01-488 5808 / 087-2309835 / 086-3868615