The Public Interest Journalism Lab has completed the selection of the participants of the Scholarship project

Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL), together with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), announces the selection of the participants among independent regional media outlets and journalists.

The Scholarship project is designed to strengthen the resilience of independent media and enable journalists to continue their work in Ukraine, particularly under conditions of hostile aggression.

In the second half of 2025, we received more than 350 applications and selected 94 participants, including:

• 73 newsrooms that will receive scholarships for period from two to five months;

• 21 journalists with individual scholarships for two to three months.

Our priority is given to regional, local, and hyperlocal media outlets operating in or near frontline areas, as well as relocated newsrooms from temporarily occupied territories. Special attention was given to frontline reporters who regularly work in high-risk zones, and to newsrooms from small towns and villages - places where such outlets are often the only source of local news. Another important selection criterion was the ability to regularly publish original content of public interest.

As part of this project, Public Interest Journalism Lab has been supporting Ukrainian newsrooms and journalists for the fourth year, so we are also striving to award the outlets that have not yet received our support or have limited experience working with donors. In selecting individual participants, we prioritized those planning to use the funds for tasks that newsrooms often cannot cover—such as travel expenses for reporting trips.

Through this Scholarship project, we aim to support independent media and journalists who maintain professionalism and objectivity despite difficult working conditions and who genuinely need additional resources.

The Scholarship project, which is implemented by Public Interest Journalism Lab, is a part of “Voices of Ukraine” and  SAFE Project, coordinated by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. The initiative supports Ukrainian media and journalists under the Hannah Arendt Initiative and is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

From 2025 onwards, “Voices of Ukraine” will be implemented as a part of broader Support and Assistance for Free Expression Project (SAFE). SAFE is a multi-component program addressing the urgent and long-term needs of journalists and media outlets operating under conditions of war, repression, or forced displacement.