by Thinus Ferreira
The National Geographic Society has launched an international emergency fund for journalists worldwide who want to cover the Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic within their own communities.
The National Geographic Society will review proposals that it receives for journalists and people who want to do citizen journalism on an ongoing basis. The work must be in English and journalists need to be at least 18 years old and older.
"In the most difficult of times, journalism can play several roles in supporting communities around the globe. It can disseminate critical information to keep people safe and informed, it can illuminate stories that bring us hope and remind us of our shared human experience, and it can help us find and share solutions to wicked problems," says National Geographic.
"As Covid-19 continues to evolve and impact communities around the globe, the National Geographic Society is launching an emergency fund for journalists all over the world who wish to cover Covid-19 within their own communities."
"This fund will place particular emphasis on delivering news to underserved populations, particularly where there is a dearth of evidence-based information getting to those who need it."
National Geographic says that the fund is designed to quickly deliver support so that both individual stories and longer series of content may be created.
The fund will distribute support ranging from $1000 to $8000 for local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of this global pandemic as seen through evidence-based reporting.
"Beyond reporting on medical and physical health related to Covid-19, we especially encourage reporting that covers social, emotional, economic and equity issues. Narratives around the pandemic necessarily include facts and numbers, but ultimately, must also go deeper - telling the stories of inequities that Covid-19 has brought to light."
The National Geographic Society is looking for writers, photographers, videographers, audio journalists, cartographers, filmmakers, and data visualization experts who are all welcome to apply for this funding.
"Journalists should seek placement of this work within their local media ecosystems and must attribute their support to the National Geographic Society’s Emergency Fund for Journalists. National Geographic Society or National Geographic Partners may also choose to publish some of this work as part of its global coverage."
The reporting should cover any aspect of the virus and its fallout, including but not limited to, the social consequences of Covid-19 and measures to contain it, particularly related to equity - such as its impact on immigrant communities, domestic violence, and early childhood education.
The society is also looking for stories of resilience and solutions that could be applied on a regional or global scale, novel forms of data visualization or science communication to help communities better understand how to protect themselves, as well as lessons learned from local response(s) to Covid-19 that could be applied to other large-scale challenges, such as climate change or the refugee crisis.
