The European Commission has published three calls for a total of 16 million euros to fund information by supporting media freedom and pluralism, as well as promoting media literacy; it’s part of the Creative Europe Programme.
The first call has a 10.5 million euros budget and invites proposals for pluralism and collaboration projects promoting journalistic partnerships. The pluralism action is aimed at organisations that can establish and distribute funds to the media in areas of particular interest for democracy. The collaborative action aims to support cross-border media collaboration proposals focusing on innovative business models and journalistic projects across Europe.
Another 3 million euros call for proposals aims to establish a rapid response system that will systematically and comprehensively monitor violations of press and media freedom across the EU, as well as in countries participating in the Creative Europe programme and candidate countries. The overall objective of this monitoring is to collect better data and information on risks related to media freedom and pluralism.
The latest call has 2.5 million euros earmarked for innovative cross-border projects that contribute to strengthening European media literacy skills and limiting the negative effects of disinformation. The grants will encourage knowledge sharing and the strengthening of media literacy practices across national, cultural and linguistic borders.