THE MEDIA LITERACY TASKFORCE FUND

Grants up to £250,000 are available to UK charities, not-for-profit organisations and local authorities for piloting new methods of engaging ‘hard to reach’ citizens through media literacy initiatives.

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o Application deadline: TUESDAY 30th AUGUST 2022 at 9am.

o Funder: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, the building of a digital economy, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting and the Internet).

o Who can apply: UK charities, not-for-profit organisations and local authorities. Partnership and consortia applications are encouraged.

o Key Words: Media, Literacy, Online, Information, Online Abuse, Hate Speech, Hard to Reach People and Communities, United Kingdom.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is inviting UK organisations and local government bodies to bid into the newly established Media Literacy Taskforce Fund. The grant scheme will provide funding to organisations piloting new methods of engaging ‘hard to reach’ citizens with media literacy initiatives. DCMS is particularly interested in piloting projects that will work through local communities to reach out to disengaged individuals in ways that are tailored to their needs and relevant to their daily lives.

DCMS is seeking proposals that will demonstrate partnership across organisations (for example, working with local government(s), local charities or youth groups) with expertise of how to engage specific ‘hard to reach’ citizens. DCMS will also be accepting applications from consortia who can demonstrate the requirements set out in the ‘project criteria’ section, across numerous organisations. Consortia can include public bodies outside of central government.

Interventions should seek to do one or more of the following:

1. Build audience resilience to dis- and misinformation, including by developing their ability to critically evaluate the content they consume; recognise the benefits of well-researched, accurate media content; and contribute positively to press sustainability
2. Support citizens to develop an understanding of how the online environment operates and use this to inform decisions online.
3. Support citizens to develop the ability to identify online abuse and hate speechand understanding when content may cause harm to themselves or others.
4. Support citizens to develop an understanding of the risks and benefits of engaging with others online, and ability to contribute positively to their online environments, and/or
5. Enable citizens to participate positively in democratic debate online.

Examples of delivery models for these interventions could include (but are not limited to):

o Establishing local, peer-to-peer education initiatives, led by influential, community-level organisations such as local charities or individuals.
o Partnering with employers to reach target audiences with media literacy at their place of work, 
and
o Working closely with local authorities to integrate media literacy support across a range of public services

DCMS will be accepting bids for projects that either conclude this financial year (ending 31 March 2023) or extend into the next financial year (ending 31 January 2024).

A maximum grant of £250,000 is available for individual projects in 2022/23, with exact amounts considered on a case-by-case basis. There is no minimum funding requirement for the Fund.

Proposals will be assessed on whether they demonstrate value for money. Projects seeking large amounts of funding without demonstrating proportionate results are unlikely to be successful. Projects with costings that are suspected to be fraudulent or unfeasible will not be accepted into the grant scheme. Please note that the project budget should not exceed 25% of an applicant’s annual turnover.

As this fund is piloting new methods of delivery media literacy interventions all projects will be expected to have a strong emphasis on robust evaluation, both on methodology and impact. This should go beyond self-reported evaluation where possible. We encourage organisations to consider Ofcom’s recent guidance both on conducting evaluations and delivering effective community programmes.

Organisations that meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

o The organisation must be registered to operate in the UK.
o Applicants must have experience of delivering media literacy interventions or equivalent subject matter expertise, 
and
o Projects must target a local area in England (e.g. a town or county).

If you are bidding into the Fund as a consortium you must meet the following criteria:

o The lead organisation in the consortium must be based in the UK, and
o At least one organisation in the UK must have experience of delivering media literacy interventions or equivalent subject matter expertise.

Proposals submitted to the fund will be assessed against the following essential criteria:

1. Applicants must demonstrate expertise of media literacy expertise.
2. Applicants must demonstrate expertise of delivering media literacy interventions effectively.
3. Applicants must demonstrate knowledge of how to engage citizens with educational initiatives.
4. Proposals must set out which audience it is targeting to engage, and provide a sound justification for describing their target audience as ‘hard to reach.
5. Proposals must demonstrate how they will engage their target audience using a tailored approach.
6. Proposals must demonstrate how they will pilot targeted delivery methods in local communities, and set out which local areas in England will be targeted (note: media literacy is a devolved matter).
7. Applicants must demonstrate experience of partnership working and managing multiple project stakeholders.
8. Proposals must demonstrate plans for robust monitoring and evaluation of the process and impact of the project.
9. Proposals must include a breakdown of budgets that demonstrate value for money, 
and
10. Proposals must include clear plans for project management including setting out milestones and timelines.

It is also desirable that:

o Applicants can demonstrate an understanding of the media literacy needs of their target audiences.
o Applicants can demonstrate knowledge and/or experience of working at a local level or through communities to engage citizens in a project, or to improve educational outcomes for citizens, 
and
o Applicants can demonstrate knowledge of and/or existing links with the local communities proposals are seeking to target

Proposals submitted by consortia can demonstrate the essential and desirable criteria across multiple organisations in the consortium.

Further information, guidance and details about the application process is available on the GOV.UK website.

The deadline for applications is 9am on Tuesday 30th August 2022,

Any questions about the Fund or the application process should be emailed to medialiteracy(at)dcms.gov.uk.

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