Bajo la Lupa
investigative journalism grant program
for Latin American journalists
Submit Your Proposals For Investigative Journalism Projects
Deadline: June 17, 2021
InquireFirst is accepting proposals for our Bajo la Lupa project, an initiative that supports in-depth and original journalistic investigations to expose corruption and abuses of power with the goal of promoting transparency and the rule of law in Latin America. Bajo la Lupa provides financial and editorial support and generates a media network for the dissemination of research.
InquireFirst, a nonprofit journalism organization founded in 2016 in San Diego, California, organizes workshops in Spanish and awards grants for investigative journalism projects written by Latin American journalists.
The long-term effect of our journalism programs at InquireFirst is to build close collaboration with journalists from Latin America to strengthen journalism and give citizens the information they need to make better decisions.
The purpose of Bajo la Lupa is to encourage investigative journalism that seeks to reveal hidden actions of the powerful that affect the citizens of Latin American countries.
We invite journalists to propose an investigative journalism project that they can research, write and edit in a period of no more than six months.
The selected projects will receive financial support for reporting conducted in 2021.
The deadline for submitting proposals is June 17, 2021 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time.
All journalists applying for a Bajo la Lupa grant are required to complete an InquireFirst questionnaire when submitting the project. The questionnaire can be found below this text.
The project will be edited by editor Ignacio Rodríguez Reyna, an experienced newspaper editor who is based in Mexico. The chosen journalists will be expected to comply with the schedule for the editing and publication. There will be a calendar for the editing process, as well as a non-negotiable deadline. As many corrections and modifications will be made as necessary during the editing process.
The winner agrees to give credit to the InquireFirst, as well as the editor Ignacio Rodríguez Reyna and the graphic design and interpretation teams in all publications and communications where the winning work is mentioned.
Eligibility: Bajo la Lupa is open to any journalist who works or frequently collaborates with a newspaper, magazine, radio, television or online medium in Latin America, or who works as a freelance journalist. Those who work in public relations or as spokespersons for institutions are not eligible to apply for a grant from Bajo la Lupa.
Distribution: The projects will be published by media in Latin America and the United States. Editor Ignacio Rodríguez Reyna and Project Director Lynne Walker will work with media organizations to ensure that the projects have the widest possible distribution.
The project will be submitted in Spanish to the editor and translated into English for publication in the US media and into Portuguese for publication in Brazil.
To ensure credibility and fairness, an international panel of three judges will select the winning team. The decision of the judges on the winning project will be final.
Applications must include the following:
• The attached questionnaire with the description of the project. You can find a link to the questionnaire below this text.
• A preliminary estimated budget (not to exceed US $2,000 per project), which includes a basic breakdown of ground transportation and reporting expenses. The budget may also include compensation for journalists working on the project.
• A biography, with a maximum length of 300 words per biography, with three links to publications in which you have participated.
Deadline: June 17, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
The selected project will be announced in July 2021.
Questions? Email Lynne Walker
