Grants available for journalists working in Europe

Investigative reporters doing research in Europe can apply for grants to underwrite their efforts through Journalismfund.eu, the European Fund for Investigative Journalism, courtesy of a €114.000 gift from the Open Society Institute. EFIJ will offer two rounds of grants, with applications for the first round likely due in early October. The second round will be awarded in spring 2010.

The gift from OSI – one of George Soros’s philanthropies – was announced earlier this month by Brigitte Alfter, director of Journalismfund.eu. It is second-level seed funding meant not only to finance grants but also to build EFIJ into a stronger organization. The OSI board “applauded the design” of Journalismfund.eu and “believes it will make an impact.”

The OSI gift also includes funds for Wobbing.eu (“wobbing” is a slang term for procuring documents through freedom of information requests). Both Wobbing and EFIJ are offspring of the Belgian Pascal Decroos Fund.