Facebook Invests $750,000 to Support Middle East and North Africa Newsrooms During COVID-19

Update: July 15, 2020
In partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP) is now accepting applications for the second round of the ICFJ-Facebook Training & Reporting Grants Program: Reporting on Refugee Communities Amidst a Pandemic. Learn more about the program and apply below.

The ICFJ-Facebook Training & Reporting Grants Program: Reporting on Refugee Communities Amidst a Pandemic equips journalists with the skills, resources, and technical support needed to produce compelling reports that surface underreported stories from refugee camps across countries with large refugee communities such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.

Applications will be accepted until Friday, July 31, 2020 (11:59 pm ET). See terms for full eligibility criteria, evaluation process and restrictions.

Update: June 22, 2020
Applications for The ICFJ-Facebook Training & Reporting Grants Program, and the ICFJ/FJP COVID-19 Reporting Grants Program are now closed. Visit this page for regular updates and sign up to our mailing list.

Update: May 14, 2020
In partnership with the International Center for Journalists, we are now accepting applications for 2 grant programs supporting Journalists in the Middle East and North Africa. Learn more about them and apply below.

A grant program for journalists and newsrooms in Egypt will open in June 2020. Visit the FJP website, the ICFJ website, the MENA Journalists Facebook Group, or The Adham Center Facebook Page for regular updates.

The ICFJ-Facebook Training & Reporting Grants Program: Reporting on Refugee Communities Amidst a Pandemic equips journalists with the skills, resources, and technical support needed to produce compelling reports that surface underreported stories from refugee camps across countries with large refugee communities such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.

See terms for full eligibility criteria, evaluation process and restrictions.

This grant program is designed to provide financial support to individual journalists and freelancers in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Yemen to assist them in their COVID-19 reporting. Selected journalists will receive a $2,500 grant to produce stories related to COVID-19 and it's effects. Selected journalists will also receive a mentor to help them develop their stories for a period of two months. All grantees must participate in a kick-off call with mentors and ICFJ staff.

See terms for full eligibility criteria, evaluation process and restrictions.

The news industry is working under extraordinary conditions to keep people informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As people turn to local journalists for critical information on how to keep their friends, families and communities safe, journalists are hit especially hard in the current economic crisis.

Today, the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP) is announcing $750,000 in funding and training to help news organizations in the Middle East and North Africa navigate the impact of COVID-19 and reinforce high-quality journalism in the region.

We’ve been working with our partners and the industry to understand publishers’ immediate and critical business needs, such as receiving support to continue producing creative, innovative and impactful storytelling in order to provide quality coronavirus coverage.

As part of these funds, FJP will work with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), a non-profit organisation with a track-record of working with publishers across the world, to offer a combination of grants, webinars and professional mentorship to support publishers as they navigate the challenges associated with COVID-19. In addition, we’re launching a program focused on refugee reporting during this time, which will equip journalists with the skills, resources, and technical support needed to produce compelling reports that surface underreported stories from refugee camps across the region.

In Egypt, we will collaborate with The Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism at the American University in Cairo to address some of the pressing issues and challenges facing journalism in Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program aims to achieve three main goals: (1) empower and connect publishers and journalists with the tools and equipment they need to work effectively from home; (2) provide training and mentorship for individual journalists to build capacity and acquire knowledge and skills needed most in these challenging times; and (3) support newsrooms, journalists, and developers bringing innovation and creativity to quality, well packaged COVID-19 stories void of misinformation through a hackathon.

Sharon Moshavi, ICFJ’s senior vice president for new initiatives, said: “Our aim is to help newsrooms and publishers in the region shine a light on the tremendous health challenges people in refugee camps are facing. Our initiative with the Facebook Journalism Project will help ensure this very vulnerable community is not forgotten during this global crisis.”

Dr. Hussein Amin, professor of journalism and mass communication and director of the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism, said: “With a constant influx of misinformation, rumors, and exaggerated aspirations of the situation on the ground, the job of a journalist has never been more challenging. Through this collaborative project with Facebook, we aim to support Egyptian media with knowledge, skills and useful resources so they can bring to their audiences quality content void of misinformation.”

Across the Middle East and North Africa, Facebook is working with partners to ensure people have consistent access to accurate information regarding COVID-19, including providing WhatsApp-driven support lines with local ministries of health, launching the COVID-19 Information Center on Facebook, and continuing work with our third-party fact-checkers and strategic partnership with the ICFJ. Since 2019, the ICFJ and FJP have trained more than 7,500 journalists from 37 countries in the region to strengthen their reporting skills and build stronger connections with their communities.

FJP’s commitment to newsrooms in the Middle East and North Africa follows Facebook’s $100 million investment to support the news industry during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as $2 million in grants for US and Canadian local news, $1 million in grants for fact-checking organizations, and a $1 million donation to the International Fact-Checking Network. Previously, FJP committed $300 million to serving journalists around the world through diverse and inclusive news programs and partnerships.