Underreported Stories in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Pulitzer Center is seeking proposals to advance wide-reaching and relevant journalism on issues impacting communities in sub-Saharan Africa, including but not limited to water and sanitation, land degradation and coastal erosion, education, maternal health, and climate resilience. We place special emphasis on projects that inform behavior and policies that improve the lives of the communities reported on, and we encourage local journalists to apply.

GRANT OVERVIEW

With support from the Pulitzer Center, our journalist grantees have reported on the effects of fast fashion on Lesotho; coastal erosion’s impact on fishing communities in Ghana; gold laundering in Uganda; and the coming global famines caused by the confluence of COVID-19, climate change, and conflict in Ukraine. Their work has been published across a diverse range of news outlets, including international outlets like Science magazine and Al Jazeera, as well as leading African outlets like The Continent and Premium Times.

We support projects across all media platforms and encourage ambitious proposals that combine print, photography, audio, and/or video for one or more news outlets. The most successful projects are those in which news outlets match our commitment by adding interactive or multimedia elements to enhance and showcase their original reporting.

We encourage our applicants to think creatively about how they distribute their reporting so they may reach the communities that can most benefit from it. 

Grants are open to reporters, photographers, radio/audio journalists, television/video journalists, and documentary filmmakers. We are committed to supporting journalists from diverse backgrounds and of all nationalities. This opportunity is open to newsrooms, newsroom staff, and freelance journalists. Some highlights of recent projects include:

• Starving in Somalia | Cara Anna, Associated Press
• The Hidden Lives of Our Blue Jeans | Ryan Lenora Brown (Lesotho/South Africa)
• Karamoja: A Land in Flux | Liam Taylor (Uganda)
• Swallowed by Sea | Erica Ayisi (Ghana)
• Oil Drilling in National Parks To Begin Despite Environmental Protests | Antoaneta Roussi (Uganda)
• Hobbled by Steep Wheat Flour Price, Nigerian Bakers Look the Way of Potato Purée | Ronald Adamolekun (Nigeria)
• Charting Conflict and Corruption – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda | Sophie Neiman (DRC and Uganda)
• Mozambique’s Malaria Problem | Leslie Roberts (Mozambique)

We value data-based, investigative, and accountability journalism projects that tackle systemic issues and hold powerful local figures to account.

You decide what underreported stories your community needs to engage with, and we support that reporting and champion it. This includes creating educational materials and events to expand the reach of your stories and the conversations about them.

TO APPLY, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:

• A description of the proposed project in no more than 250 words; 
• A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs; 
• A compelling distribution plan, including letters of commitment from news outlets.

We aim to support teams that reflect the communities they report on. We hope this grant can help our partner organizations advance their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and commitments.

We accept grant proposals on a rolling basis. You typically will hear back from us one or two weeks after submitting your application.

Please refer to “Tips for a Successful Pulitzer Center Grant Application” for more information on how to apply.