Six non-profit journalists from all over Europe have been awarded the Grow Fellowship. Thereby Netzwerk Recherche and Schöpflin Foundation are enabling journalists from Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece and Turkey to attend the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg (September 26th - 29th) and participate in an exclusive workshop tailored to the challenges of the European non-profit journalism landscape.

The selected projects demonstrate how non-profit journalism is enriching the European media landscape - with watchdog journalism, cross-border investigations, fact checking initiatives, data journalism and podcasts. By connecting this broad journalistic (and entrepreneurial) expertise the Grow Fellowship aims to stimulate an exchange of knowledge and establish cross-border collaborations. Thus, a new European non-profit journalism community is about to evolve.

Time to meet our six fellows:

• Szabolcs Panyi, Direkt 36/VSquare
• Zuzana Vlasatá, Denik Referendum
• Ahmad Haj Hamdo, SIRAJ
• Stéphane M. Grueso, maldita.es
• Fariba Nawa, On Spec Podcast
• Tassos Morfis, AthensLive

A jury compiled of international experts in journalism and philanthropy examined all applications and selected our six winners. We thank our jurors (listed below) as well as Schöpflin Foundation for making this possible: Julia Stein, Chairwoman Netzwerk Recherche; Paul Radu, Executive Director OCCRP; Elisa Simantke, Editorial Coordinator Investigate Europe; Cecilia Anesi, Co-Founder Investigative Reporting Project Italy; Lukas Harlan, Program Head Schöpflin Foundation; Tabea Grzeszyk, Co-Founder Hostwriter; Christian Humborg, Deputy Director Wikimedia Germany; Thomas Schnedler, Program Head Netzwerk Recherche.

Netzwerk Recherche, the German Association of Investigative Journalists, is delighted to announce the new Grow Fellowship for Nonprofit Journalism in Europe. It enables five pioneers of this emerging scene to attend the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg, an intense training camp and networking event in September 2019.

Nonprofit journalism is your world? You are working for a nonprofit media project in Europe or you have already founded one? You are not only thinking about the future of high quality journalism, but also about creating a strong base for your project and a sustainable revenue model? You are interested in membership programs, philanthropic funding and other financial sources? And you want to meet other nonprofit news entrepreneurs, motivated investigative reporters and experts? You love to gather and share knowledge? Then apply for the Grow Fellowship!

As a Grow Fellow, you will benefit in at least three ways: You will have access to an exclusive workshop tailored to the challenges of the nonprofit journalism landscape in Europe. You will attend the Global Ivestigative Journalism Conference 2019 in Hamburg, the world’s largest international gathering of investigative reporters. And you will become part of the evolving Nonprofit Journalism Grow Community.

Pre-Conference Workshop Day

All Grow Fellows are invited to join an exclusive pre-conference event prior to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg on Wednesday, September 25th.

Does not-for-profit means that your newsroom or your journalism project don't have to worry about making money? No! In this one-day workshop on Nonprofit Journalism Business international experts and colleagues will share their knowledge of how to survive as a journalism entrepreneur and how to build revenue for sustainable newsrooms. For this workshop, we collaborate with the Global Investigative Journalism Network, which brings in great global experience and other helpful resources. The workshop will focus on three key sources of revenue: the audience, funders and donors as well as other sources of income like events or trainings. This will be a practical and interactive workshop – so we are excited to get to know your ideas, questions and issues!

In addition, you’ll meet Netzwerk Recherche’s German Grow program grantees - as well as GIJC19 fellows from all over the world trying to make journalism sustainable despite increased challenging conditions. Finally, you’ll have a chance to talk to global experts in one-on-one meetings on specific issues your project or organization is facing.

Global Investigative Journalism Conference

The Global Investigative Journalism Conference will kick-off with a Welcome Reception on September 25th, 6 pm. Four days of full program will follow, with over 150 panels, workshops and special sessions. We expect a thousand journalists from 130 countries. Among the speakers, there are Pulitzer Prize and other top award winners, pioneers of nonprofit journalism, data journalism experts and fearless investigators who have exposed corruption and abuses of power.

There will be a special conference track dedicated to Nonprofit Journalism & Sustainability - a must-go for the Grow Fellows. In addition, they will find a lot of other interesting sessions on data journalism, cross-border collaboration, investigative research techniques or academic questions. The Grow fellows are invited to join the special events like the Global Shining Light Award Ceremony on Saturday, 28th September, or the concert of The Muckrakers. The band will play on a boat in Hamburg harbor on Friday, September 27th.

During the conference Grow Fellows will take part in the informal Nonprofit Journalism Meeting, the main networking event for journalists from the nonprofit sphere. There you can catch up with some experts from the pre-conference workshop, discuss common challenges and get to know other nonprofit reporters, media managers and scholars from around the world. Grow your own network!

Grow Community

To keep in touch with the lively nonprofit journalism scene in Germany and Europe the fellows will enter the evolving Grow Online-Community, filled with alumni from all four rounds of the German Grow Fellowship, media managers, researchers and anyone who is interested in advancing nonprofit journalism. We provide an online platform where you can exchange experience, business and story ideas and establish collaborations with people you met during your stay in Hamburg. Fellows are expected to actively contribute to the community by sharing recent project ideas and providing support for other Grow Community members. The best idea or the most helpful advice in this forum will be rewarded with another invitation to Hamburg. The winner will attend the annual conference of Netzwerk Recherche in summer 2020 free of charge.