For quite some time, the Fritt Ord Foundation has had media and journalism as one of its core target areas. In the current demanding situation being experienced by the media, and thereby by the public sphere as a whole, we aspire to do even more to support and promote high-quality journalism in several fields.

The call for applications has six deadlines for applications during the year. The next deadline is 5 March 2019, at 3 p.m. Applications should be submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation’s application centre.

Application requirements
The initiative is completely open when it comes to topics. When applying for project support, journalists, editors and editorial staffs are free to choose the topics and contents of their projects. The Foundation’s goal is to help facilitate projects that can become important parts of the social debate for as many people as possible.

The projects are intended to target the general public. Applicants may use any publication platform, and are encouraged to be multi-medial. Any independent, editor-driven publication with Norwegian media users as its target group may apply. Editorial boards or individuals may apply, but all support is to go to named individuals. We are open to new forms of cooperation between several editorial boards/groups of journalists, and freelancers with publication agreements are invited to apply.

We aspire insofar as possible to support work on the content to be published, while providing less support for operating expenses, technical development projects and the acquisition of equipment.

We ask that applicants submit project outlines that are 3 to 5 pages long, and as specific as possible. Project outlines should include a schedule, a description of the content (e.g. in the form of a list of articles or a publication plan/schedule) and a list of project team members with a five-line resume for each of them. We also ask for an attachment detailing other sources of funding, if any, as well as own efforts and an overall project budget.

Freelancers are asked to provide a brief verification of their publishing agreement and the level of remuneration provided by the editorial board(s) that will be publishing the project. Please note that an allocation is intended to be in addition to a fee, and that funds you receive from Fritt Ord are not to be used to reduce the level of the fee you receive.

Label the application “Norwegian Journalism” in the title field. For guidance with the application process, contact Executive Director Knut Olav Åmås at knut.olav.amas@frittord.no.

In addition to the funding set aside for Norwegian Journalism, grants will be made to central, journalism-related fields such as documentary films, documentary photos and journalistic factual prose. These will continue to be important priorities for Fritt Ord in the ordinary rounds of applications and they are not under the purview of this scheme.

• See here for list of the approximately 200 projects received support under the scheme Quality journalism in a new era – 2015-2017, the Foundation’s most recent journalism campaign.

• Link to the press release about the initiative from September 2017.