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Ten UK media organisations to benefit from Facebook Covid-19 support fund

Posted on: May 15, 2020 by admin

Ten UK media organisations are among 56 European news publications receiving grants in the first wave of a Covid-19 support fund set up by the European Journalism Centre (EJC) and Facebook Journalism Project.

The selected publications have been awarded grants of €10,000 or €25,000 to address immediate and critical business needs caused by the pandemic.

Organisations receiving grants include hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today and its quarterly magazine which was highly commended in the SoE Regional Press Awards last year, and the self-styled 21st century news desk, the Bedford Independent.

On the Wight, news site for the Isle, has received funding following the loss of advertising caused by the cancellation of the island’s events and festivals due to Covid-19.

Also benefitting is the provider of the only independent paid-for newspaper in London, the Southwark News, and its news website.

The $3million European Journalism Covid-19 Support Fund was launched in April to help fund local journalism hit by the current economic crisis in the UK and Europe to ensure journalists can continue reporting the pandemic in local communities.

Grants can be used to cover salaries of staff members, supplement lost advertising revenue, or even hire more freelance journalists to aid news coverage of the outbreak.

The EJC said it had received an unprecedented response – with 988 applications for this Emergency Fund.

Announcements for the additional Engagement Fund and Innovation Fund will be made in the coming weeks. Users can sign up via europeanjournalism.fund to receive updates on when and how to apply for future waves of funding.

A full list of UK recipients is below:

Newry.ie CIC (Northern Ireland) (€10,000)

Llanelli Standard (Wales) (€10,000)

Clydesider Creative Ltd (Scotland) (€10,000)

Bedford Independent (England) (€25,000)

Switch Radio (England) (€10,000)

OnTheWight (England) (€10,000)

Local Communications Limited (England) (€25,000)

Altrincham Today (England) (€10,000)

Social Spider CIC (England) (€25,000)

Southwark Newspaper Ltd (England) (€25,000)

More details about these organisations, including what they are using the grant funding for, will be published on the EJC site in the near future.