Frequently Asked Questions about the Uncharted Journalism Fund

You ask questions. We answer.

Q. Is the fund still active?
A. No. The project wrapped up in March 2019. The rest of the FAQs are simply here for posterity.

Q. How can I be notified of upcoming application periods?
A. You can subscribe for notifications here.

Q. Can an applicant run their ideas by a trustee?
A. We would ask applicants to seek input on their application from colleagues and peers, but to limit outreach directly to trustees of the fund. If there are application questions not answered by this FAQ document, we ask that you submit your questions to unchartedjournalism@gmail.com and we will use those questions to expand the FAQs.

Q. Can you provide feedback on specific applications?
A. Because of the voluntary nature of this effort, we won’t be able to able to provide feedback on applications that do not receive funding.

Q. Can an applicant submit multiple applications?
A. Short answer: Yes. Applicants may submit more than one application during one application period, or across several application periods. Applicants should, however, be thoughtful about how many applications they submit because of the additional time required to review each application.

Q. Can a grant recipient submit multiple applications?
A. Short answer: No. In the interest of supporting multiple stories and storytellers we are currently limiting one grant per story/storyteller/team.

Q. Can you re-submit an application that doesn’t receive a grant in one period to the next application period?
A. Yes.

Q. What is the grant timeline and process?
A. If you are shortlisted for the grant, you will be asked to to submit a professional reference and to describe any needs that you or your project might have around mentorship or assistance with bringing the project to life. We may also ask to schedule a short phone interview to discuss the specifics of your project. This will happen 2–4 weeks after the application deadline. The first grant will be awarded in January, and we aim to make subsequent grants in April, July, and October.

Q. How is the grant dispersed?
A. Our current policy is 50% of the grant at the time of the award decision, and 50% on completion of the project. That policy is subject to change based on the specifics of the grant awarded and the requirements of the project being funded.

Q. What are the obligations to the Uncharted Journalism Fund after receiving a grant?
A. We are currently discussing and documenting this and expect to have a more complete answer available in the coming weeks. Our current expectation is that successful applicants will undertake their project in good faith shortly after receiving the funds, and will work to complete the project within three months (unless another timeline was provided and agreed). Any resulting publications related to the project should mention the Uncharted Journalism Funds grant.

Q. Does the Uncharted Journalism Fund help with publishing or distributing the outcome of a funded project?
A. Short answer: No. It will improve your application to have a publishing partner lined up, or strong interest from said partner. If your project tackles an aspect of journalism less about content and more about other aspect of the industry (data collection, content distribution, commenting format, etc.), give some thought to how your effort may reach people or what kind of partner may be open to your experiment. Consider approaching them before submitting your application. Individual trustees may be able to help with introductions to possible publishing partners. This would be at their personal discretion. The Uncharted Journalism Fund is not a publishing venture.

Q. Does the Uncharted Journalism Fund require any copyright or ownership of the outcome of a funding project?
A. We don’t claim any copyright or any ownership. Those details are between you and any publishers that you work with to distribute the outcomes of your project.

Have a question that isn’t on the list? Please drop a note to unchartedjournalism@gmail.com and we’ll endeavour to get it answered pronto.