Call for Pitches – Dual Dangers of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Water Crisis in the Nile Basin. InfoNile is inviting the teams made up of two journalists (a national newspaper or TV journalist and a local radio journalist) in the 11 Nile Basin countries to submit proposals for in-depth journalism stories on dual dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic and water crisis in the Nile basin.
These stories are part of a series of stories and will feed into a final data journalism project including interactive maps and stories.
This project is supported with funding from the Pulitzer Centre and National Geographic Society.
InfoNile wants you to:
Uncover critical stories about COVID-19 in relation to the water crisis and effective responses/ solutions in your country. Relate the environmental and livelihood impacts on the vulnerability of communities amidst this pandemic. Connect the science, research, and data to the reality of the COVID-19 vulnerabilities, water scarcity, and the interventions being made in your country. Communicate these stories to national and local audiences in your country.
Possible Questions to Answer in your Story:
- What is the extent of water shortage or low water access in your country, and how is it impacting the spread of COVID-19?
- What are the underlying water and sanitation challenges faced by vulnerable communities?
- What are the innovative strategies that are working to reduce the spread of this coronavirus and ensure well-being in areas where people struggle to access clean water?
- How are poor communities adapting to lockdowns? Which innovations are they taking up to support their livelihoods during the lockdowns?
- How have other infectious diseases in areas with water challenges been handled in the past, and what can learn from these efforts?
- Which data or other evidence can you find that proves that the problem is happening, and/or impact of these solutions?
Integration of Data: Your story pitch should contain a plan to integrate data analysis and visualizations of water challenges on the spread of COVID-19 on different sectors or topics relevant to your story; i.e. drought, price of water, environmental degradation, cultural practices, government policies, the spread of disease, livelihoods, etc.
“Geo-coded” or geographical data is the most preferred, since they will use it to create interactive maps and visualizations. However, please feel free to integrate any other sources of credible data.
Outputs
The output should be two in-depth stories focusing on the same topic (the two journalists will report their stories together):One story produced for a national audience on TV or newspaperOne story produced for a local audience on a regional or community radio station (produced in local language)
Note: If you receive facilitation to report your story, you will receive assistance in producing graphics, data visualization and mapping.
Application Requirements:
A proposal outlining your story idea (no more than one page). Proposals should be clearly structured, stating briefly at the outset what the story idea is, followed by how and where the story will be researched, what it aims to reveal or contribute, where you will publish (specific media organizations), and the intended impact of the story.
The proposal should also include a plan for incorporating data.
Please note how you will use multimedia (video, photos, audio, and graphics along with text).
You should also include: A moderate proposed budget of no more than $500 A resumé/CV; Two samples of published/broadcast work. Links to the published stories are also accepted.
Letter of support from your editors, stating that your media houses will publish / telecast / broadcast your story.
Stories can be published in other languages but should also be translated into English.
Deadline: Ongoing
Application Details: https://infonile.org/en/call-for-pitches-dual-dangers-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-water-crisis-in-the-nile-basin/