> For US based organizations (and a their partners). > > > Collaborative Grants in Media and Communications Proposals Due April 4, > 2007 > Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere Program > http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media > > WHAT > The SSRC is pleased to announce its small grants project for academic-advocacy > collaboration in the media and communications field. This project will provide > grants of up to $7,500 for research that supports efforts to change the media > / telecommunications infrastructure, practices, policies or content. The > grants are intended for short-term work, completable and usable by advocacy > partners within the next 4-12 months. Proposals for this round must be > submitted by April 4, 2007 by 5PM EST in order to be eligible for funding. > Grant recipients will be announced on April 20, 2007. > > WHO > Proposals must be: > (1) 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. (A limited number of international > non-profit organizations will be solicited by invitation only.) > (2) 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: > ˇ Have a clear plan for the application of the findings of the > research in policy-making processes or advocacy campaigns to change the media > / telecommunications infrastructure, practices, policies or content. > Scholarship that facilitates field-building (i.e. curriculum development, > tool-building, analysis of best practice) will also be considered. > ˇ Be useful for organizations, communities, and advocacy efforts > beyond the applicant organization. > ˇ Address issues of disparate impact on communities on the basis > of race, class, gender, ethnicity, age or other identity/status category. > ˇ Build capacityskills, tools, experience, access to data > setswithin the "user" organization and/or community. > ˇ Use methods or models of research that have proved effective > in similar contexts. > ˇ Reflect diversity in the staff or group involved with the > project. > ˇ The committee will seek to fund a diverse mix of projects, > including consideration of regional diversity, issue-area, scope (local, > state-wide, national, etc), type of organization (national lobbying, > grassroots community, transnational, etc.) and goals and methods (e.g., > capacity-building, policy interventions, project or movement analysis, surveys > and/or data collection, etc.) > > Bonus points for proposals that: > ˇ Involve collaboration between two or more advocacy/community > groups in the project design and the plan of use for the research. > ˇ Use participatory methods to engage community and/or advocacy > group members in framing the questions, data collection, and/or analysis. > ˇ Are related to issues of telephony, publishing, privacy, > intellectual property, independent media, or spectrum. > > > > PROPOSAL STRUCTURE > Please submit proposals via email 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). This should cover > both process and outcomes, and address the criteria above. Describe the final > product you will deliver to the SSRC upon completion of the study and how you > see other organizations potentially using the findings and products of the > research project. > * 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 researcheršs CV. > * A budget of up to $7500, with itemized major expenditures. If the project > draws on other resources or financing, please indicate them. > > SAMPLE PROJECT TOPICS > > Proposals might seek to: > * Measure the success or failure of mainstream media in advancing different > public interest goals or values. > * Measure the impact of existing ŗalternative˛/ community media systems on > communities, public discourse, or democratic processes. > * Develop better, actionable accounts of the role of new mediaš in peoplešs > lives. > * Analyze policymaking and/or regulatory systems. > * Analyze emerging systems, frameworks, or models of media and communications > that transcend the current regulatory framework. > * Analyze economic models, industry structure, markets, or audiences for > different kinds of media > * Create analytical tools or research resources for use by advocates, > communities, or the public. > * Document or evaluate advocacy or organizing strategies around > communications and media issues. > > > 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 McGannon Center for Communications Research at Fordham > University. The program is funded by the Media, Arts and Culture program of > the Ford Foundation. > 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. > Past submissions that were approved in previous rounds can be viewed online > at: http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media/collaborative_grants/ . Note that new > applications do not have to work within the exact same range of topics as we > encourage a diversity of issues that relate to the media and communications > field. > 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 at > http://listserve.ssrc.org/mailman/listinfo/mediaresearchhub-news > > ------ End of Forwarded Message