Fifth round of Journalism Partnerships announced

Following the fifth call for proposals for Journalism Partnerships, six consortia will receive in total nearly €11.7 million EU co-financing to support the resilience and pluralism of Europe's news media sector.

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Following the 5th yearly call for proposals under the Creative Europe programme, six Journalism Partnerships were selected. All grants are now signed, with an average duration of two years. The call for proposals aimed to support two sets of projects: collaborations between media to stimulate innovation in business and editorial models; and support (for example through training or re-granting) to media that are of particular relevance to democracy and civic participation, to enhance pluralism.

The calls for proposals for Journalism Partnerships have been attracting many ambitious proposals. The 2021 call resulted in 7 projects selected among 32 proposals. The 2022 call resulted in 12 projects selected among 64 proposals. The third call attracted 74 proposals, out of which 8 projects received funding. The fourth call attracted 58 proposals, out of which 9 projects were selected. This fifth call attracted 81 proposals.

Selected projects under 'Collaboration'

This topic followed the same logic as the three previous editions: to foster cross-border collaboration among news media organisations in Europe to work on business model transformation and/or journalistic projects.

CJEGC

Collaborative Journalism Europe in a Global Context (CJEGC) is a continuation and expansion of an earlier partnership, aiming to improve the use of technology in investigative reporting and provides trainings for investigative journalists.

• Partners: ICIJ (NL), MANS (ME), Context (RO), Direkt36 (HU) and Siena (LT)
• EU support: €1,427,805
• Read more information

CIJI3

Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative 3 (CIJI3) offers mentoring, fellowships, training and networking opportunities for news media professionals. In addition, the project aims to expand the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), a pan-European collaborative media space that upholds standards of trustworthiness, professional ethics and quality journalism.

• Partners: Tactical Tech (NL), Free Press Unlimited (NL), Reporters Without Borders (FR), Fundacja Reporterow (PL), Delfi (LT), Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (IT)
• EU support: €1,998,023
• Read more information

MIE

Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is a continuation of an earlier partnership providing media innovation training, coaching, funding and access to networks. The project includes accelerators, peer-to-peer mentorship, networks for community building, and grants and tools for audience-centric journalism.

• Partners: International Press Institute (AT), Thomson Foundation (DE), The Fix (NL) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• EU support: €1,998,346
• Read more information

TEFI 2

The Eastern Frontier Initiative 2 (TEFI 2) unites independent media from eight Central and Eastern European countries to collaborate on content and business development. The project focuses on fact-based information on European defence and security and includes journalist training by Bellingcat.

• Partners: 444 (HU), Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), Petit Press (SK), PressOne (RO), Bellingcat (NL), Delfi (LT, LV and EE)
• EU support: €1,265,291
• Read more information

Find further information about the collaboration grants.

Selected projects under 'Pluralism'

This topic supports projects that offer grants and training to media of particular relevance to democracy and civic participation, such as local and regional media, independent and investigative journalism, and organisations delivering public interest news/public service journalism, which in turn enhances media pluralism.

EXPJOU

Expert driven journalism (EXPJOU) will provide targeted grants for cross-border investigative journalism, combined with expert support, training for local media managers and knowledge sharing through a scholarship programme.

• Partners: Journalism fund Europe (BE), Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (LV)
• EU support: €2,474,438
• Read more information

IJ4EU

Investigative Journalism 4 EU (IJ4EU) is a continuation of a mechanism to channel public and philanthropic money to teams of independent journalists collaborating across borders on investigations of public interest. Along with grants, IJ4EU will offer training, mentoring, digital tools for remote collaboration and legal support.

• Partners: International Press Institute (AT), European Journalism Centre (NL), ECPMF (DE)
• EU support: €2,497,923
• Read more information

Find further information about the pluralism grants.

See also

• The next call for proposals for Journalism Partnerships was published in October 2025 with a deadline on 4 February 2026, for projects starting early 2027. The evaluation is ongoing, and grants will be signed by the end of 2026. The next call for proposals is expected to be published by the end of 2026.
• Find out more about how the EU supports the news media sector.
• Find an overview of other grant opportunities for news media.
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