U.S. Ambassador's Independent Media Support (AIMS) Fund

The U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to provide support to Hungarian independent media outlets and civil society organizations actively advancing media freedom in Hungary. Please follow all instructions below.

Region: Hungary

Program Objectives:

Activities under this cooperative agreement will support the independent media landscape in Hungary by enabling independent media and/or civil society organizations to promote high-quality journalism and the long-term viability of independent media outlets and journalists.

The implementing partner will manage funds that will be disbursed to sub-recipients for either pre-planned expenditures or “rapid response funds” for unforeseen expenditures that generally fall within the following funding categories:

• Travel for journalists, researchers, technicians, editorial staff, or other essential personnel for the purposes of reporting, conducting interviews, conducting research, or other activities that contribute to independent journalistic activities.

• Transportation, lodging, and meals/incidental expenses for rural journalists to travel to Budapest for media training, conferences, professional development, consultations, and reporting activities.

• Short-term professional development courses for journalists (non-degree programs) and associated travel costs.

• Programmatic and administrative costs associated with internships, fellowships, or other training and development programs for emerging journalists or technical staff.

• Fees to access to research databases, archives, or other online resources that advance independent journalistic reporting.

• Legal or administrative fees related to access to information, legal proceedings, or other administrative processes essential to operations.

• Logistical expenditures related to journalistic reporting and research (translations, transcriptions, audio/video production, equipment rental, venue rental, etc.).

• Event production costs for journalist trainings, media literacy programming, public information campaigns, public exhibitions, etc.

• Publication of educational materials (including translation of materials into Hungarian)

• Costs for licensing, subscription, marketing, financial management, or consulting services, software, or databases.

• Support for digital infrastructure, to include web design, online hosting, web optimization, development of mobile applications, community managers, etc.

• Conduct of market analysis, public opinion polling, or other research related to the Hungarian media landscape, media consumption trends.

• Other similar activities approved by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.

The implementing partner must establish a clear, efficient, transparent, publicly available procedure for prospective sub-recipients to apply for financial support under this award.

Participants and Audiences:

The implementing partner must:

• Be based in Hungary (preferred) or the Central Europe region, or have a substantial local presence which allows for hands-on program management and monitoring/evaluation activities.

• Have the capacity to expeditiously disburse funds to sub-recipients (beneficiaries) in compliance with U.S., Hungarian, and EU regulations.

• Regularly consult with the U.S. Embassy in Budapest on funding decisions, program activities, monitoring and evaluation, and other grant activities. Sub-recipients must fall into one of the following categories: • Independent media outlets with operations in Hungary.

• Independent civil society organizations/non-governmental organizations conducting activities that advance media freedom in Hungary.

• Independent educational institutions or entities providing academic and/or professional development courses or other developmental resources to students, journalists, or others in the media field.

For programming purposes, an independent organization is defined as one which is not directly or indirectly affiliated with or funded by a political party, partisan organization, or political candidate. Final determination of an organization’s status as an independent entity shall be made by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.

Miscellaneous

• Other