Interested journalists are invited to apply for the Africa-China Reporting Project (ACRP or the Project) grant which facilitates journalists to investigate complex dynamics and uncover untold stories, with an emphasis on on-the-ground impact and perspectives to illustrate how the lives of the people of Africa are changing amid the comprehensive phenomenon of Africa-China interactions.
Hosted at the Journalism Department of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the Project aims to improve the quality of reporting on Africa-China issues by providing facilitation and capacity building for journalists via reporting grants, workshops and other opportunities.
Interested journalists are advised to visit the How to apply for a grant page for guidelines on how to apply for reporting grants, or see Opportunities for journalists to keep up to date with all the Project’s new opportunities for journalists such as workshops and calls for applications. They can also go to Published features for the latest Africa-China journalism supported by the Project.
To apply for the grant, the applicant should draft succinct proposal outlining their ideas and submit to ACRPcontact@gmail.com(or as a secondary option africa-china@journalism.co.za).
To be eligible, proposals must be in MS Word or PDF formats, clearly structured, stating briefly at the outset what the story idea is, followed by how and where the story will be researched and what it aims to reveal or contribute to the Africa-China debate.
Proposals will be reviewed by the review committee at the Wits Journalism Department, which has sole and final discretion on the grants as well as the criteria used and any conditions attached to them.
Preference will be given to proposals with the relatively narrow focus around specific projects or issues. Ambitious and broad attempts to analyse the overall effect of Chinese engagement should be avoided. Where possible, journalists should identify individuals or communities through which to tell the story. While desk research is important, the Project encourages journalists to look for on-the-ground impact and perspectives.
Proposals should include the following:
Brief outline of the story idea; what will be investigated, how and where;
A budget of expected costs (in Rands for South African journalists or US dollars for journalists from other African countries);
Journalist’s resumé/CV and samples of published/broadcast work;
Indication of where the article will be published; and
Applicant’s assessment of the risks of the project
Successful grant recipients will be required to sign an agreement which outlines the terms of the reporting project and agreed budget.· Grants are generally between $300 and $1,500. The grants are intended to provide funding for travel, accommodation and sundry daily expenses, but not car hire, purchase of equipment or professional fees, or to buy publication space
ACRP Grant recipients will be paid 80% of the grant total at the outset, and the balance 20% when (and if) the feature is published on a news media platform/publication (blog publication will not be sufficient).
The reporting project should be completed and published within three months of the receipt of the grant funding unless otherwise agreed and it is the responsibility of journalists to ensure that the work is published and that acknowledgement is provided to the Wits Africa-China Reporting Project as the provider of the grant.
Successful applicants will be expected to supply a copy of their passport and stamped banking details, and on completion of the reporting project grant will be required to supply electronic copies of all material produced as a result of the grant.
The Wits Journalism will accept no responsibility for the work produced or the conduct of the grantee, but will retain the right to use any material published as a result of a grant for publicity and promotional purposes although it will at all times provide due accreditation to the journalist.
The Wits Africa-China Reporting Project reserves the right to review and edit copy before it goes to print.
The Africa-China Reporting Project can also be found on the following social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Soundcloud.
For more information please get in touch with the Project organisers at: ACRPcontact@gmail.comor Africa-china@journalism.co.za.
The ACRP is a multimedia resource dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s growing engagement with Africa its online training and dissemination partner is The China Africa Project (CAP) by Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden.
The Africa-China Reporting Project is funded by the Ford Foundation.
