Questions regarding the application process for the Enhancing Media Resilience and Quality News Journalism Call for Proposals should be submitted via email to mediaresilience@osi.bg with the subject line “Media Resilience Call Question.”
Responses will be published in this section of the site within 10 working days of receipt.
Please note that questions must be submitted no later than March 21, 2025.
Duplicate or similar questions may not be published. We encourage you to review previously answered questions and familiarize yourself with the Application Guidelines before submitting your inquiries.
March 21, 2025, Matjaz Klancar, Slovenia
Question
I am Matjaž Klančar, head of IT at the publishing house Mladina in Slovenija, applying for your MediaResilience project.
We need an offsite backup server for our online presence in case of fire or natural disasters. Currently, our webserver, editorial system, and backup system are all on-site. A new small standalone server connected to high-speed internet would suffice.
Is this within the scope of the MediaResilience project?
Answer
The applicant may include the purchase of equipment in the proposal under budget category C, covering expenditures related to services and goods. This purchase is permissible as long as the applicant can demonstrate that the equipment is linked to an activity for which the justification for its acquisition is clear and relevant, ultimately contributing to the expected outcomes and objectives of the call for proposals under the Media Resilience project.
March 21, 2025
Question
Regarding the document „editorial charter, code of conduct, or another relevant document (as an attachment to your application) that outlines your commitment to editorial independence“ – do we need to send official translation in English?
Answer
We request that the document is in English but it may not be an official translation.
Question
Regarding the costs for author articles written by the journalists that are not employed, do we put them in „B) Costs for natural persons working under a direct contract“ or „C) Expenditure on the purchase of services and goods“?
Answer
In the Application Guidelines, chapter 6.1 Application budget, are indicated specific requirement for the eligibility of the cost under budget category B) Costs for natural persons working under a direct contract: to be assigned to the action, under conditions similar to those of an employee (not be significantly different from those for personnel performing similar tasks under an employment contract).
In the case that they do not meet this requirement the cost should be under budget category „C) Expenditure on the purchase of services and goods“.
Question
For travel expenses for Summer Academy in Sozopol and Community of Practice Workshop in Brussels do we put BG, BE rates as it is written in the presentation?
Answer
Yes, for the workshops you will need to use the rates that are valid for the countries where you will travel to. In this case, Bulgaria and Belgium.
Question
Regarding question 3.1. Needs assessment – „key needs, issues, or gaps that your proposal seeks to address“ the question refers to needs in the organisation or in the society?
Answer
It refers to both, depending on the issues you would like to address and plan to seek the unding for. In case you wish to address needs of your organization (for example, you need funds for technical equipment so that you can reach to more people with your news) – then you need to describe your needs and how addressing them may actually improve your outreach. In case you would like to address a broader social problem – such as disinformation, for example – then you may wish to describe the social problems at hand and thus link them to your plans.
March 21, 2025, Svetla Kostadinova
Question
My question is the following;
Are partnership applications allowed – between a media and a NGO?
Answer
Partnership applications are permitted, provided that all partners meet the eligibility criteria.
Another collaborative option is for a news media applicant to include in its proposal services offered by an NGO, which, while not a media entity, can contribute to the implementation of the initiative. For instance, this could involve training, capacity-building activities, and other support services. If selected, the applicant will retain full responsibility for the implementation of the initiative, while the NGO will act as a service provider.
Mila Moralic 20 March, Croatia
Question
I am writing to you hoping to get a clarification regarding the Call for proposals Enhancing media resilience and quality news journalism. We are planning to apply as a Croatian NGO of independent journalists with a structured code of conduct and ethical guidelines. We would like to apply with a project to start a platform for quality news journalism.
Are we eligible in this form (not being a standard news media outlet but an NGO)?
Answer
According to our procedure, we cannot make a judgement at the stage of application on weather an organization is eligible before we actually review the proposal.
The rule is that organizations registered as NGOs are eligible candidates for this competition as long as they could demonstrate that they operate as independent news media and have media products and meet the other eligibility criteria outlined in the Application Guidelines.
March 19, 2025, Kruno Durec
Questions
1. How can an external consultant charge for their services related to the preparation, application, and, after approval, project management and reporting? Are consultancy costs included in the 7% indirect costs, or is it possible to allocate a separate budget item for an external project manager under a contract for an individual (costs for natural persons)?
2. Can a document proving editorial independence or a code of conduct be in the form of a document adopted/issued by the governing body of the media organization (composed in English)?
Answers
1. Costs for services related to the preparation and submission of the application are not eligible and cannot be covered by the budget of the proposed initiative. Only costs incurred during the implementation period of the initiative, after signing the grant agreement, can be covered by the initiative’s budget.
Project management is considered a direct cost and is not part of the 7% indirect costs. It should not be listed as a separate activity. Instead, the project manager’s salary should be allocated proportionally to the other planned activities. The project manager may be hired either as an employee or through a contract for an individual (natural person).
2. Yes, the document proving editorial independence can be adopted or issued by the governing body of the applying media organization and should be presented in English.
March 19, 2025, Denis Tavčar, Slovenia
Question
What equipment can be included in the project? Can we also include (new) computers for the people who will be working on the project?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Answer
The applicant can include in the proposal budget a purchase of equipment under budget category C. Expenditure on the purchase of services and goods.
This can be done provided that you can link this equipment to an activity for which you can justify the need for its acquisition for the implementation of the specific activity leading to achievement of results.
March 12, 2025, Špela Grabnar, Delo, d. o.o.
Question
We, as in Delo d.o.o., are applying to MediaResilience: Nurturing Quality News Journalism project but can not find the registration form that we are supposed to do on the www.mediaresilience.osis.bg . The website throws us to https://osis.bg/?p=4914&lang=en and there is no option to register or apply to the project.
Can we get more information on how to apply?
Answer
The websites www.mediaresilience.osis.bg and https://osis.bg/?p=4914&lang=en are the same.
On the right, under the project logo, you will see a button APPLY ONLINE. Click it. It will open a page https://mediaresilience-epss.osis.bg/public/portfolios/view.cfm?id=91
Then in the upper right corner you will see a button Register. Click it and follow the necessary steps to register in the EPSS.
Also, take a look the “Annex I Instructions for completing and submitting proposal applications in EPSS”, located on this page – https://osis.bg/?p=4915&lang=en.
March 7, 2025, Daniel Weiner, HU
Question 1
Can we apply as a Limited Liability Company (Ltd.)
Answer
You can apply as an Ltd company as long as it is a legal entity, you have editorial independence and function as a media outlet (have media production). Please also check the Application Guidelines for eligibility criteria.
Question 2
Since we are mostly high school students, what type of CV should we submit?
Answer
You need to define who will be the project manager and send his/her CV which is required. You could also provide CV’s of 1-2 more key people who will take part in the project.
Question 3
We were previously part of a USAID project, but it was frozen (and likely canceled) after just three days. As this was our first project, should we still include it in our application, or is it not relevant?
Answer
In case you refer to the description of your Previous experience in project implementation 1, you could explain your situation and describe the project you started. If you still have a link you could attach it. If not, a description will be enough. But this section is not required.
In case you refer to this part: Experience and examples of work * Please describe up to three concrete examples (if possible you could provide up to three links to stories) showcasing:
You could also describe the above experience, and in general – any kind of journalistic experience that you may have had that brings value to this project. It maybe the USAID one or maybe something you produced beyond donor funding.
March 7, 2025, Maria Borisheva,
Whereas in the Application Guidelines, 8.1. Evaluation Criteria, 1.3 Alignment of the proposal with the objective of the Call says:
Question
“The proposed initiative contributes to the achievement of the goal of the Media Resilience project, the objective of the Call and to at least one of the expected outcomes.” Does it mean that the proposed initiatives must meet all five objectives listed on page 3 of the guidelines, namely: “increasing their financial resilience; addressing emerging technological challenges that affect their work; fostering the development of quality journalism; counteracting the influence of populism and propaganda; and enhancing outreach to groups in society vulnerable to disinformation.”?
Answer
No, the proposed initiatives do not need to meet all five objectives listed on page 3 of the Application Guidelines. While contributing to at least one of the expected outcomes of the Call, your proposal is expected to also contribute to some of the call’s objectives, though not necessarily all of them. Focusing on a subset of the objectives and demonstrating a clear and significant contribution to at least one of the expected outcomes is a valid approach.
March 5, 2025, Lubo Vassilev
Question
If the Declaration of Eligibility is signed by a person authorised to represent the applicant on the basis of a notarised power of attorney – should we also attach the notarised power of attorney?
As the power of attorney is in local language – should we have it translated in English and in what way – simple translation or again notarised?
Answer
Please attach the power of attorney in the original language (in this case, BG). Please also translate the power of attorney and attach it along with the original document. There is no need to notarise the translation.
March 4 2025, Lubo Vassilev
Question
How do we fill figures for budget categories?
For example – If we have two persons:
Person N 1 works 6 months for Activity № 1 and 4 months for activity № 2. He/she receives 1000 euro per month.
Person N 2 works 5 months for Activity № 1 and 5 months for activity № 2. He/she receives 1200 euro per month.
Is this the correct way to fill the budget:
Activities Budget categories Unit N of U Amount per U Total
Activity 1 Costs for empl. Months 11 € 2,200.00 24,200.00 €
Activity 2 Costs for empl. Months 9 € 2,200.00 19,800.00 €
Do we have to fill the name of the employees in the budget?
Answer
It is not required to fill in in the Budget the name of employees, but you need to fill in the position/ function of the employee.
Activities Budget categories
I. Activity :…… A. Costs for employees
1. Position/ function…..
Amount per Unit in Euro for personnel (monthly, daily or hourly rate) shall be in accordance with the terms of the employment contract and the employer’s usual practice including costs of wages, social and health insurance and other costs as per the labor contract. For similar positions you can use the average cost for the unit.
March 4, 2025, Lubo Vassilev
Question
Travel costs for Sozopol and Brussels events – are they part of 7% indirect costs?
If not – where in the budget should we show them?
Should we put “Project management and communication” as a separate activity and show the cost for Project manager (Cost for employees) there together with travel costs for Sozopol and Brussesl events (Travel)?
Answer
Travel costs for the Sozopol and Brussels events should not be included in the 7% indirect costs.
The applicant can include these costs either as a separate activity/budget section or as part of a larger activity/budget section, depending on what best fits the proposal’s structure.
Project management should not be listed as a separate activity. Instead, the project manager’s salary should be allocated proportionally to the other planned activities.
Project communication can be included as a separate activity or as a sub-activity within a larger activity/budget section.
Feb 28, 2025, Lubo Vassilev
Question
Can we provide “Editorial charter, or another relevant document that outlines your organisation’s commitment to editorial independence” in its original language, which, in our case, is Bulgarian?
Answer
All documents need to be submitted in English and this is a requirement for all the 5 countries. We will be having an international team of evaluators as well as an international Project Selection Committee and they need to be able to read the application in the English language.
Feb. 28, 2024, Lubo Vassilev
Question
If the applicant has two representatives signing together – do we have to have two different Declarations of Eligibility or one in which both fill their names and signatures?
If two – can we upload both of them in the dedicated part of the system or we should merge them into a single file?
Answer
It is not possible to upload 2 separate Declarations in the EPSS as there is a limit to this. You may wish to upload one declaration split into 2 parts but uploaded as one file.
Feb. 26, 2025, Vesna Martinec, Radio Maribor, RTV Slovenija
Question
Dir Sir or Madam,
Is public media eligible? Can a local news-oriented radio station that is part of the public broadcasting organization apply?
Answer
Thank you for your interest in our Programme.
There are no restrictions for public media to apply provided that they are aligned with all the other requirements for eligible news media, described in the Application Guidelines.
Please check the Guidelines at this link: https://osis.bg/?p=5042&lang=en
You can also go through the webpage: www.mediaresilience.osis.bg
Feb. 13, 2025, An Pham, Editor-in Chief, Toest, http://toest.bg
Question
If the media is not news-oriented but focuses on in-depth analyses, reviews, comments, and journalism, can it apply for this project, considering the explicit statement in the description that it is aimed at news media entities, and in the glossary provided in the application guide it states:
„News Media: Media entities that gather, produce, and distribute news and information to the general public. Their primary goal is to report on current events, issues, and trends, providing factual information that informs, educates, and sometimes entertains the audience. “
Answer
We cannot answer questions regarding the eligibility of specific applicants during the application preparation and submission stage. The eligibility criteria are outlined in the Application Guidelines.
At the same time, please note that while “news media” are primarily defined as entities that gather, produce, and distribute news and information to the general public, we recognize that the media landscape is diverse and that this definition encompasses a wide range of activities, formats, and approaches, including conducting interviews or providing in-depth analyses and commentaries aimed at informing, educating, and engaging the public on current events, issues, and trends.
We acknowledge that providing context, critical insights, and in-depth analysis of newsworthy topics, alongside factual reporting, is a crucial role of news media organisations. Such contributions are essential for fostering informed public discourse and enhancing media literacy among audiences. Therefore, for the purposes of this call, media that focuses on in-depth analyses, reviews and comments on current events, issues, and trends will be considered news media, provided they meet the other requirements outlined in the Application Guidelines and the answers published here.
Febr 3, 2025, Leona Aslanova, СЕО, Innovation Starter
Question
On January 20th, my organization began to roll out a new media project www.newday.bg.
My question is, are we an eligible candidate because the media-publishing organization of the NewDay.bg (Innovation Starter Box Ltd.) has other commercial activities (organizing events, acceleration program for startups, etc.) besides the media project.
Answer
We cannot answer questions regarding the eligibility of specific applicants during the application preparation and submission stage. The eligibility criteria are outlined in the Application Guidelines.
At the same time, please note that Media Resilience project team will consider any legal entity as a news media organisation if it can demonstrate that its principal purpose is to provide programs or press publications under its editorial responsibility, involving systematic gathering, production, and distribution of news or information to the general public through various channels, such as print, broadcast, or digital platforms. This encompasses a wide range of activities, formats, and approaches, including conducting interviews or providing in-depth analyses and commentaries aimed at informing, educating, and engaging the public on current events, issues, and trends.
The created content should be generally intended to serve the public interest, or inform the democratic processes, rather than directly promote specific organizational, political or commercial agendas.
Organizations that publish content to serve specific goals, like raising awareness, promoting services or ideas, or advancing a cause driven by their organizational objectives rather than by professional journalistic principles, and whose content is not subject to the same editorial scrutiny or commitment to neutrality will not be considered news media.
