The mini grant competition on materials on medium-significance

NGO “Institute for the Development of Regional Press – RPDI” and the ECPMF announces a competition for small grants to create journalistic materials aimed at increasing the media literacy of the audience in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine.

Fake news,
manipulations, propaganda and disinformation – all of this has a real impact on
the real life of modern society.

The most
effective weapon against these phenomena is media literacy – the ability to
critically perceive information, to recognize fraud, to deal with it
responsibly.

Journalists,
bloggers and public activists from Zaporozhye, Lugansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk
and Kherson got an opportunity to raise the level of media literacy of their
audience.

It is in this context that the purpose of the competition, which is being held
by the RPDI under the project “re: start democratic discourse”,
implemented in partnership with the European Center for Press Freedom and the
Media (ECPMF), Leipzig, with the support of the German Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

Authors can
suggest their ideas or choose a theme from the proposed list, prepare materials
aimed at increasing the media literacy of the audience and publish them in
regional media.

The organizers will select the 15 best ideas and help them realize – with the help of editors-mentors. After disclosure to the media, the authors of these materials will receive small grants – from 3500 to 5000 UAH. Applications are accepted until October 10, 2018.The winners (authors / authors of these applications) must create and publish their journalistic materials by December 10, 2018.

Goals of the contest

Encourage
journalists / bloggers / civilian journalists to create materials aimed at
raising the level of media literacy of the audience (to recognize fake,
propaganda and manipulation in the media, to critically treat unverified
information and unreliable sources);

• to
  improve the quality of journalistic materials by consulting journalists,
  bloggers and civil journalists while working on materials
• raise
  awareness of the media about the impact of the media on social processes and
  stimulate citizens to self-development of the critical perception of
  information they receive from the media.

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#rpdi #ecpmf #CivilSocietyCooperation #restart #restartDemocraticDiscourse

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and the Regional
Press Development Institute (RPDI) in Kyiv are launching the project ‘re:start democratic discourse‘
in the Southeast of Ukraine. Its main purpose is to improve the
professional skills of media workers and the media literacy of the
population.

According to a 2017 study by USAID, a broad majority of citizens in
rural Ukraine does not have any trust in media, whether it‘s TV, radio,
print or internet. The reason for this is a massive intrusion of
disinformation and biased articles serving political or economic
stakeholders into mass media. The ECPMF and RPDI intend to improve the
situation by stimulating a greater production of and a greater demand
for quality journalism.
The project „re:start democratic discourse“
consists of three elements – a social media campaign for press and media
freedom; trainings for bloggers, citizen-journalists and reporters from
small media outlets and media literacy courses for pupils, students and
citizens.
The logo of the project is an owl. It metaphorically
stands for wisdom and insight. The slogan is ‘behind the news’. In
social media the organisers will primarily work with animations. The
first digital outlet of the project is the Facebook page.
The training programme will start in mid August. And the plan is to
send a group of ten Ukrainian journalists on a study trip to Germany.

“This project is extremely important for both Ukrainian media and
society. We have the opportunity to increase the media literacy of
Ukrainians and to improve the professional skills of regional
journalists and bloggers in the southern and eastern regions“, says Olga
Trufanova, Director of RPDI. “Presently, we are focusing on regions
which are most prone to progaganda and biased, often fake, news. This is
especially important considering the upcoming elections. We hope to
continue the project in the future and extend it to other regions.”
“We
are happy to realise our first project with RPDI, one of the most
experienced NGOs in Ukraine“, says Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director of the
ECPMF. “Ukraine is a battlefield for media freedom and disinformation.
We seek to build a sustainable partnership and knowledge exchange
because the situation won’t change tomorrow.“

The Regional Institute for Development of the Press (RPDI) in Kyiv is
a Ukrainian non-profit organisation. The Institute was founded in 2006
and since then has implemented projects worth 4.6 million US dollars.
The RPDI promotes a democratic civil society through the development of
independent, sustainable and pluralist media in the Ukraine.

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The project ‘re:start democratic discourse’ is supported by the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.