Media Council Launches Grant For Journalists Reporting COVID-19

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) has today, 21^st April 2020, launched a Health Reporting Grant set to ease the lives of registered journalists who are covering COVID-19 in Kenya.

The grant will see up to 500 MCK-accredited journalists get the opportunity to apply for grants ranging from 1, 000.00 shillings to 25, 000.00 shillings to facilitate their reporting and coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya.

Launching the initiative, MCK Chief Executive Officer, David Omwoyo noted that the Ministry of Health (MoH) guidelines on the control of the virus, have had an effect on the work of journalists and that they need support to carry out their work.

“We are eager to see to it that journalists are facilitated to carry out their work in this environment of depressed incomes and economic activity,” MCK Omwoyo said.

“The media plays a critical role in public health messaging and as such we want to ensure that we do what we can to facilitate their work for the greater public good”, Omwoyo noted.

“We will go beyond the issuing of grants to successful applicants, to also ensuring that some virtual capacity-building takes place via online platforms,” MCK Head of Media Development & Strategy, Victor Bwire said adding that virtual training sessions would be undertaken.

“This will enable the journalists to improve on their writing and submit health stories that meet a quality mark as judged by audience interest and response”, concluded Victor Bwire who will be coordinating the grant program.

Successful applicants will be able to use travel, communications and other related costs in the research, interviewing and compilation processes of their stories.

Applications for the grant close on 30th April 2020 at midnight after which they will be vetted by a team of experts announcing up to 50 grantees per week.

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