Winners Syria Co-Production fund 2020
Free Press Unlimited is happy to announce Hibr Press and Bonyan as the winners of its Syria co-production fund competition! They will receive the resources needed to report on stories that otherwise will remain untold.
This year, nine media/ civil society partnerships were formed and participated in the co-production fund project. With the support of Free Press Unlimited’s expert coaches and financial support to cover production costs, the participants cooperated on developing and producing their ideas.
These are the winners
The first prize is awarded to independent media outlet Hibr Press and civil society organisation Bonyan. The jury was very impressed by the vivid realisation and creativity of their project "Escape from Death: Towards Camps and Behind Borders". The second prize goes to independent media outlet Syria Direct and civil society organisation Violet, for their interesting idea and extraordinary implementation of their video and article on "Education in Idlib during the COVID-19 Pandemic". Finally, Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ), and civil society organisation Access Centre for Human Rights win the third prize with their investigative piece "Legal Documents Seizures in Lebanon Strip Syrian Refugees of their Rights" with its expressiveness and its clear and convincing message.
Thank you to all participants
We thank everyone who participated in the project and helped make it a success! It’s been weeks of hard work, so we congratulate all participants and look forward to launching the next round.
About the Co-production fund
The Co-Production fund is a small grant project that aims to bring Syrian media outlets and civil society organisations together to produce quality reporting. It provides them with resources to work together and report on stories that often remain untold.
Underrepresented Syrian topics
The nine partnerships from this year were representing Syrians from all areas of the country and in diaspora and covering a diversity of topical subjects. These included but were not limited to trafficking of illegal narcotics, access to civil documentation and basic rights to medical care and education, the impact of COVID-19 on displaced civilians and water and food security.
Pillars of impactful news
The relationship between media and civil society organisations is one of the main pillars of impactful news and ensuring that audiences receive accurate and detailed information. Their collaboration is fundamental. It connects journalists with groups that are underrepresented and provides them with specific expertise, detailed information, and expand the audience reach for independent journalists.