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Local media - the voice of civil society | Civic Europe

Local media - the voice of civil society

Supporting local media with knowledge, resources and finance for stronger impact on civil society

Creators

Who is behind this?

Venelin Dobrev

Step Forward

http://uspelite.bg

Bulgaria

Who is joining forces?

Step Forward

http://uspelite.bg

Bulgaria


Idea

Idea pitch

For 3rd year, Bulgaria is on 111th place in the rank of "Reporters without borders." Independent media suffers from lack of funding. The freedom of media and the active civil society are related. We will empower content creators to stimulate the development of independent. The idea is from another project that helped people start a business. As founders, we know the needs of starting a media.We will have at least ten new forms of online media created that will support civil society in Bulgaria.

Where will your project idea take place?

Our project will take place in 10 regions in Bulgaria with low levels of civil activity

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

Independent content and media creators don't have the knowledge and resources to support and fund themselves. A lot of the regional media in Bulgarian regions has failed to adapt to the online era. This has resulted in high dependence from funding from the central or local government or businesses that are close to it. Such media are more likely not to be critical and not to work for the public good. On the other hand, content creators that want to deliver content that will result in more active inclusion of civil society struggle to create and sustain their vlogs, websites, podcasts, or another form of media. They lack the needed resources, knowledge, and starting funds to survive long enough to make a difference. All of this results in low levels of civil society action.

Who are you doing it for?

We will target content creators and people that want to start online media (vlog, podcast, online website) that address local and national challenges and problems and supports democracy and active citizenship. We will have a widespread informational campaign among all 28 regions in Bulgaria. After that, we will select 10 of them and perform training for the people that want to participate. Further consultations will be provided for everyone that starts working on their idea, and the three best will receive financing. We will put on focus the people in roma communities and try to empower some of them if they have ideas for specific media about the problems of this minority group.

How do you plan to get there?

Here are the project activities:
1) An informational campaign in all 28th Bulgarian regions;
2) Selection of 10 regions with low active citizenship;
3) Performing trainings by experts in the ten regions;
4) Providing consultation, mentoring and support for the content creators that work on their idea;
5) Rewarding the three best ideas (1st place - 5000 EUR, 2nd - 3000 EUR, 3rd place - 2000 EUR);
6) Creating an online resource center with all the knowledge from trainings and consultations and promoting it.
7) Promoting the project as a good practice across the EU;

What are the expected results?

Creation of at least 10 new online media formats (websites, podcasts or vlogs) in Bulgarian regions that will support and promote democratic values and active citizenship.

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

Our approach is based on another successful EU project in Bulgarian regions that supports people to start a business. We will provide training, consultation, and funding (withing the project budget) to independent content creators in 10 Bulgarian regions. By creating an environment for the existence of sustainable independent media that supports democracy and active citizenship, we will increase the level of active citizens among the general public. When people are well informed about the problems in their regions, they are more likely to change something.

Why is this idea important to you?

We would like to support the media freedom in our country.

€ 40000,-

Total budget

€ 40000,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

Salaries - 10 000 EUR;
Travel costs - 5000 EUR;
Marketing and PR budget - 5000 EUR
Office expenses - 5000 EUR
Reward for the three best media - 10 000 EUR;
Trainings and consultation activities - 5000 EUR

What do you need from the Civic Europe community?

Any comments on the idea are welcome!

Team

venko.90.stz

Idea created on May 27, 2020
Last edit on May 27, 2020

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