Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
Time to read
5 minutes
Print
a- a+
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Media Development Programme Funding: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

0 comments

Media Development Programme Funding: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Global Policy and Advocacy Program, which works to build strategic relationships with government, private philanthropists, media organisations, public policy experts, and other partners, is key to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's mission. The Global Media Partnership portfolio, where the bulk of media funding resides, is located in the Foundation's Program Advocacy and Communications team within the Global Policy and Advocacy division. Contact: Miguel Castro, Senior Officer for Global Media Partnerships mcastro@gatesfoundation.org

Grants that were given to organisations from 2015 to 2019 include:

Africa Check [August 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to increase accuracy of health claims by public figures and promote use of evidence-backed information by policymakers, the media, and the public, when addressing public health and development issues.

African Academy of Sciences [June 2017] - This grant was used to create a platform to build capacity for and sustain science journalism to promote economic development in Africa.

Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc. [August 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to build impact measurement competencies of media partners focused on global health and development issues. (See more here.)

Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc. [November 2017] - This grant sought to help build the capacity of media organisations to measure and record the impact of their journalism on global health and development and/or education issues. (See more here.)

Centre for Advocacy and Research [September, 2018] - This grant sought to enhance the quantity and quality of media engagement in India, with a focus on prioritising health programmes and consistently advocating through the media for a coordinated and unified response to the health system at all levels. (See more here.)

Cloud Tiger Media Inc. [August 2016] - This grant sought to enhance public understanding and concern about how food relates to broader global issues of agriculture and nutrition by capitalising on the universal interest in online content about food.

Education Writers Association [March 2017] - The purpose of this grant was to support multiple programmes and services for education journalists to increase the quantity of high-quality media coverage to better inform the public on college and career readiness, postsecondary access and success, and the post-election transition and its implications for education in the US.

EducationNC [October 2018] - This grant sought to support media coverage and policymaker engagement efforts within and across North Carolina, US.

Guardian News & Media LLC [October 2016] - The purpose of this grant was to support the pilot of the Action Button technology and audience engagement outreach embedded in a reporting project around the crisis of homelessness in the western states of the US. (See more here [PDF].)

Guardian News & Media Ltd [September 2018] - The purpose of this grant was to support the global coverage on youth demographics in the Global South and implications for global development and health issues.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health [November 2017] - This grant sought to promote the use of evidence in public health policy, practice, and media coverage of public health.

IDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition [March 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to build capacity of journalists and advocates to plan for, understand, and respond to the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes trial results, and global policy implications.

IRIN Association [November 2018] - The purpose of this grant is to produce and disseminate journalistic reports analysing and highlighting successes and challenges to localisation and local responses to humanitarian crises.

Le Monde [March 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to support Le Monde Afrique's coverage of development and global health in Africa and inform and engage its audiences through high-quality journalism.

Le Monde [November 2017] - This grant was used to inform and engage French and African audiences on relevant news and information on development issues, as well as making available the results of its research on the WhatsApp platform use as a media tool in Africa and Europe.

Media Ecosystems Analysis Group [August 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to support the 2nd Media Ecosystems conference (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States - US), which will provide an overview of the current state of research on media ecosystems by showcasing work in the field. (See more here.)

Media Impact Funders [October 2017] - The purpose of this grant was to gather robust data on funders who support media projects and policy in Europe, Africa, and India and to serve as a first foray into understanding and sharing broader global trends in funding media in the public interest. (See more here.)

Nation Media Group [February 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to help support the advocacy and communications outcomes in Kenya around gender equality and public health. (See more here.)

Nation Media Group [September 2016] - This grant sought to increase public knowledge and awareness by boosting the quality and quantity of health and science reportage in Kenya, focusing on such areas as child health, maternal health, preventable and communicable diseases, nutrition, food security, and developments in agriculture, as well as environmental issues. (See more here.)

National Newspaper Publishers Association, Inc. [November 2016] - This grant was used to fund a 36-month multi-media US public awareness campaign focused on the opportunities and challenges of The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) through a series of educational events, editorial content, and media buys.

New Venture Fund [September 2016] - This grant sought to support media and communications efforts to advance the work of the global development, health, and US education communities.

News Deeply [November 2016] - This grant was used to elevate critical issues surrounding women and girls in the developing world by educating the public, with the ultimate goal of alleviating poverty and improving health and education among women and girls in developing countries.

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Inc. [November 2015] - This grant was used to improve the accuracy in worldwide media of claims related to global health and development. (See more here.)

Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) [November 2018] - This grant was used to overcome incentive and resource barriers to generating sustained high-quality, evidence-based, and solutions-oriented media coverage of global health and development issues in primary healthcare systems.

Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) [September 2016] - This grant was used to inform citizens and influence health policy on prevailing health issues such as malaria, tuberculosis, infant and maternal mortality, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS in Nigeria through a dedicated health journalism platform, as well as through events promoting health services.

The Project Syndicate, o.p.s. [October 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to increase awareness of global health and development issues in the media and on public agendas, and to build and support global health and development champions.

Research Triangle Institute [March 2018] - The purpose of this grant is to assess the impact of the media advocacy efforts in Uttar Pradesh, India, and to provide feedback on how media advocacy efforts can be improved. (See more here.)

Rhodes University [October 2018] - This grant was used to train development sector mid-level and senior journalists from Africa on solutions journalism.

Seattle Foundation [October 2018] - This grant was used to support family homelessness solutions journalism in the Seattle Times (US).

Seattle Foundation [September 2017] - This grant was used to support coverage of family homelessness solutions journalism in the Seattle Times (US) modelled after the successful Education Lab series.

Solutions Journalism Network Inc [September 2018] - The purpose of this grant is to support the extension of Education Lab, a collaboration of The Seattle Times and the Solutions Journalism Network that seeks to produce highly engaging, solutions-oriented news and conversation about public education in Seattle and Washington State, US. (See more here.)

Solutions Journalism Network Inc [October 2017] - This grant was used to support newsroom projects focused on solutions-oriented global health and development coverage, and to seed capacity for high-quality solutions journalism in East Africa.

Solutions Journalism Network Inc [July 2016] - This grant was used to support the continued development of two new publications - Bright and Development Set - and the expansion of solutions journalism projects in more US newsrooms.

Spiegel Online [December 2018] - This grant was used to report on social divides around the world and to convey an understanding of how to overcome them.

Stichting European Journalism Centre (EJC) [June 2019] - The purpose of this grant is to support EJC's efforts to increase the capacity of the journalism community in Europe to report on global health and development issues. (See more here.)

Stichting EJC [September 2018] - The purpose of this grant is to fund in-depth analysis of global health issues in European media outlets.

Stichting EJC [September 2016] - The grant sought to generate public debate about the role of journalism in society in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as how philanthropy can best support this public service.

Storythings [June 2017] - The purpose of this grant was to support science journalism outlets to co-create and jointly syndicate content on global health security and pro-poor research and development for wide distribution, reach, and engagement.

University of Southern California [November 2016] - The purpose of this grant was to collect, develop, and share approaches for measuring the impact of media by supporting applied research, thought leadership, and the Media Impact Project Data Repository.


Editorial note: This list was derived by searching the Gates Foundation website for the keywords "media" and "journalist". The list includes grants that were given to organisations from 2015 to 2019.

Image credit: Media Impact Funders via Facebook