MESSAGE
SENT BY:
Monique Loayza
SSRC
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Necessary
Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere Program
http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media
WHAT:
The SSRC is pleased to launch its next round of the small grants project for
academic-advocacy collaboration in the media and communications field. This
round will provide grants of up to $7,500 for research that clearly supports
advocacy, organizing, policy and/or campaign uses in the media and communications field
in the
WHO:
In this round, proposals
must be:
- Submitted by a
US-based nonprofit advocacy, organizing or community group working on
media and/or telecommunications issues. (Groups with nonprofit fiscal
sponsorship are also eligible.)
- Structured as a
partnership with an academic researcher based at a university, college or
other research institution. This can include advanced graduate
students.
There are
no citizenship requirements for participants in these projects.
CRITERIA:
Please review the attached list of criteria carefully BEFORE preparing your
proposal.
All projects must:
- Be strategically
useful in their proposed advocacy and/or organizing context.
- Produce scholarship
that meets academic standards.
- Have a realistic
workflow and timeframe.
The selection committee will also favor proposals that:
- Address issues of
disparate impact on communities on the basis of race, class, gender,
ethnicity, age or other identity/status category.
- Build
capacity—skills, tools, experience, access to data
sets—within the "user" organization and/or community.
- Have a clear plan
for the dissemination of the research to target audiences.
- Have uses outside
the immediate intended context.
- Use methods or
models of research that have proved effective in similar contexts.
- Reflect diversity
in the staff or group involved with the project.
Bonus points for proposals that:
- Involve
collaboration between two or more advocacy/community groups in the
project design and the plan of use for the research.
- Use participatory
methods to engage community and/or advocacy group members in framing the
questions, data collection, and/or analysis.
- Are related to
issues of telephony, publishing, privacy, intellectual property,
independent media, or spectrum.
See also
sample topics below.
PROPOSAL STRUCTURE:
Please submit proposals to [log in to unmask]
. Please send a project outline of no more than 5 pages including:
- A short description
(max. 100 words) of how the research will be used to advance
public-interest change in the media/communications arena.
- A description of
the research project (max. 1000 words), covering both process and
outcomes, and addressing the criteria above.
- A description of
the proposing organization (max. 200 words), including mission,
constituency, geographical scope of work, and annual budget.
- The name,
institutional affiliation(s) and research experience of the academic
partner.
- A project timeline.
Plus:
- The
researcher’s CV.
- A budget of up to
$7500, with itemized major expenditures. If the project draws on
other resources or financing, please indicate them.
REVIEW COMMITTEE:
Applications will be reviewed and selected for funding by our Panel:
- Saskia
Fischer, Media Empowerment Project
- Hernan Galperin, Annenberg
- Dorothy Kidd, Media
Studies,
- Gene Kimmelman, Consumers
- Mark Lloyd, Center
for American Progress
BACKGROUND:
The Collaborative Grants project is part of the Necessary Knowledge for a
Democratic Public Sphere (NKDPS) Program of the Social Science Research
Council, working in partnership with CIMA: Center for International Media
Action and the
The NKDPS
program is launching a series of funding opportunities to help increase the
production, use and capacity for research to serve public-interest advocacy and
organizing around media and communications. These mini-grants for collaborative
advocacy- academic partnerships have been initiated to meet the short-term
research needs of advocacy and policy actors.
Several
other funding projects will be launched in the next months, including a
"Research Bounties" project that place prizes on advocacy-defined
research and a larger program to support longer-term advocacy-academic research
partnerships and training.
For more
information on the program, see http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media.
For all
program-related inquiries, please write to [log in to unmask]
Subscribe
to MediaResearchHub-News for program updates,
research funding opportunities, and conference information: http://listserve.ssrc.org/mailman/listinfo/mediaresearchhub-news
SAMPLE PROJECT TOPICS:
Proposals might seek to:
- Measure the success
or failure of mainstream media in advancing different public interest
goals or values.
2. Measure the impact of
existing “alternative”/ community media systems on communities,
public discourse, or democratic processes.
3. Develop better,
actionable accounts of the role of ‘new media’ in people’s
lives.
4. Analyze policymaking
and/or regulatory systems.
5. Analyze emerging
systems, frameworks, or models of media and communications that transcend the
current regulatory framework.
6. Analyze economic
models, industry structure, markets, or audiences for different kinds of media.
7. Create analytical
tools or research resources for use by advocates, communities, or the public.
8. Document or evaluate
advocacy or organizing strategies around communications and media issues.
To view past submissions that were approved in the first
round, go to: http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media/collaborative_grants/smallgrants.page
Note that any new applications do not have to work within
the exact same range of topics as we encourage a diversity of issues as long as
they are related to the media and communications field.