"We've Received a Handful of Pitches"

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"We've Received a Handful of Pitches"

Throughout 2025, it's possible to apply for project development grants from Media & Democracy to fund the development phase of a project idea. This opportunity has been available for two months now, and Martin Holmberg, Program Manager for Media & Democracy, is pleased with the reception of the grant.

"Interest in the grant has been strong so far. We've received a handful of idea pitches, and two of those have received the green light to write a full project application. Additionally, several organizations have hinted that they plan to pitch ideas for a potential application."

So, for project support to be granted, an idea needs a thumbs-up in two steps? "Exactly. First, we need to see that the idea aligns with Media & Democracy's focus and has the potential to develop into a strong research and innovation project. This way, we want to ensure that organizations don't invest effort and time in applications that wouldn't be approved anyway. But if we determine that the idea matches and has potential, the organization is invited to write an application. However, that application must also be approved to receive project development support."

What kind of projects can one seek funding for? Do you have any examples? "First, and this is important: the support is specifically for developing a project idea. That means exploring and clarifying the idea's purpose, goals, how a project will be implemented, which stakeholders will participate, and what the expected results and effects will be. As I just mentioned, the ideas must also fall within Media & Democracy's area, which we typically summarize as media innovation and democracy-related social research. This means, for example, that we aim to contribute to strengthening media's innovation capacity and development, as media and independent journalism play a central role in democracy."

What do you hope the grant will contribute to? "Provide the conditions for more valuable research and innovation projects. We've long observed how promising embryonic ideas quickly lose momentum because there hasn't been an opportunity for quick funding to explore and concretize an idea when it has, how should I put it, a moment. We therefore hope to contribute to capturing creativity and timing in more idea processes, which in turn should lead to further collaboration with Media & Democracy as an enabling platform."

How does one get in touch if they want to pitch an idea? "The easiest way is to visit our website. There's an entry point in the header, which I hope is hard to miss. Clicking there opens simple instructions."

How much has the grant been marketed? "Quite cautiously so far. We published a news article in late autumn announcing that the grant would launch at the turn of the year. Beyond that, we've talked about the grant in various contexts where we participate and many stakeholders are present. Now, as I said, the grant is more clearly exposed on the website, and we will continue to share information at events where we reach a broad audience. The response has been very positive, which is, of course, really enjoyable."

The project development grant is provided in collaboration with the Hamrin Foundation, which is one of Media & Democracy's main funders.

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