The National Geographic Society is launching an emergency fund for the journalists covering COVID-19 all over the world.

This fund will focus on delivering news to populations where there is a lack of evidence-based information.

This fund is designed to quickly deliver support so that both individual stories and longer series of content may be created. 

” The fund will distribute support ranging from $1,000–8,000 USD for local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of this global pandemic as seen through evidence-based reporting.”

Further the Beyond reporting on medical and physical health related to COVID-19, National Geographic Society especially encourage reporting that covers social, emotional, economic, and equity issues. Narratives around the Pandemic necessarily include facts and numbers, but ultimately, must also go deeper—telling the stories of inequities that COVID-19 has brought to light.

Writers, photographers, videographers, audio journalists, cartographers, filmmakers, and data visualization experts to apply for this funding.

National Geographic Society or National Geographic Partners may also choose to publish some of this work as part of its global coverage. 

Reporting may cover any aspect of the virus and its fallout, including but not limited to: 

• Social consequences of COVID-19 and measures to contain it, particularly related to equity—such as its impact on immigrant communities, domestic violence, and early childhood education. 
• Stories of resilience and solutions that could be applied on a regional or global scale.
• Novel forms of data visualization or science communication to help communities better understand how to protect themselves.
• Lessons learned from local response(s) to COVID-19 that could be applied to other large-scale challenges, such as climate change or the refugee crisis. 
• Best practices of how educators, students, and schools are reacting to this crisis, particularly as they illuminate under-resourced schools. 

Priority communities include: Those at high risk or hit especially hard by the virus, indigenous communities, immigrant or refugee communities, underserved, urban, rural, elderly populations, and children. 

Applicants may use up to 100 percent of their budget as personal reimbursement for their reporting time. We ask that applicants estimate their standard fee for reporting on or creating such content.

Finally, all reporting must be fact-based and accurate. For the best and most up to date COVID-19 resources, see below: 

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• World Health Organization
• Johns Hopkins Map of COVID-19 Cases
• The COVID-19 AP Style Guide

All application materials must be in English, and applicants must be at least 18 years old at the time they submit an application.

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