Request for Proposals
Project Background
As Lebanon faces unprecedented economic, social, and political challenges, the media has an essential role to play to preserve societal cohesion and highlight the plight of marginalised groups. The Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF) and the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) have teamed up as part of a consortium program funded by the US State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor (DRL). This program aims to facilitate the emergence of a media environment (including social media) that provides a fair representation of all components of the society and empower marginalised groups and hate speech victims to express themselves freely and safely.
Traditionally, the Lebanese media landscape has been entrenched in political and sectarian interests. However, independent journalists have sought in recent years to launch alternative outlets online, committed to the highest ethical and professional standards. The audiences of independent media outlets have grown significantly after the October 2019 protest movement as a wider consciousness emerged within the Lebanese population to seek news from less politicised sources. This program aims to strengthen independent organisations’ coverage and institutional sustainability.
SKF and TRF invite proposals from Lebanese independent media platforms for the provision of financial and professional support. Grants of up to $55,000 (USD) are available for capacity-building projects that would support content production, staff resourcing, and organisational sustainability initiatives.
Supported outlets would also be eligible for one-on-one journalist mentoring by TRF experts. The mentoring will accompany journalists at every level of the production cycle, from understanding concepts and notions, to pitching, data gathering, field work, drafting, multi-media integration, publication, and promotion.
Supported outlets will also receive ongoing coaching on the latest best practices in online media start-up management. The management support initiative will contribute to the institutional and financial sustainability of supported organisations beyond the scope of this program.
About the implementing organisations
The Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, working to spread democratic culture in Lebanon and the Arab world and encourage new talents of free press. SKF hosts the SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, which has become the largest operation to monitor and denounce violations of freedom of expression in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. SKF provides high-level capacity building for journalists to improve their coverage of sensitive issues, with support from local and international trainers, and world class media development institutions. SKF also provides financial and legal support to journalists in distress and advocates for the reform of legislations and practices that curtail freedom of expression. SKF has developed an expertise in media analysis and qualitative research around media consumption patterns and media content. SKF employs a team of 18 in Beirut, Amman, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Paris, and Amsterdam.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, TRF works to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights, through news, media development, free legal assistance, and convening initiatives. For more than 35 years, through its media development training, TRF has worked to strengthen local journalism, improve media ethics, standards and regulation, combat misinformation, and shape the future of the profession. TRF does this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via our funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. TRF also provides news reporting that sheds light on all forms of rights violations, legal support through the TrustLaw network, and media development services to journalists reporting on complex human rights issues.