AGILE

A diverse and free media is the cornerstone of a democratic, equal, peaceful, and sustainable society. However, today, independent media are facing unprecedented pressures worldwide. To strengthen independent media globally, Fojo, in partnership with four international media development organisations, has received funding from the EU (INTPA DG) for the project “Advancing Global Innovation and Learning Effectively to Build Resilience in Independent Media” (AGILE). Running from 2025 to 2028, the support aims to enhance independent journalism worldwide, particularly through innovations and tools that contribute to sustainable media development.

Fojo is working to strengthen journalism education in 13 countries by supporting networks among educators, enhancing connections with the media industry, and integrating students’ perspectives into course development. Over 2,000 students from approximately 30 universities will participate in the project.

Countries in the project:

• Asia: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam
• MENA: Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan
• Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe

What we do

Fojo will bring together educators, journalists and journalism students to co-develop and implement thematic courses. The work will strengthen the link between theory, technology and practice, bridging the gap between the classroom and the newsroom.

Focus will be on capacity building through proactive preparedness, prevention and demonstrating what works in practice.

The project is divided into four focus areas:

1. Women Media Leaders of Tomorrow: Through an 18-month mentoring programme, young female journalists are trained in leadership, with 
   specific focus on managing a newsroom. 
2. Closing the Climate Coverage Gap: Together with journalism schools in six countries, we are designing a course on climate journalism to increase the capacity of journalism students to cover and report on the the climate crisis both regionally and globally. The journalism students will publish their reports in the global ‘Climate Publishing Project’. 
3. Managing Stress and Trauma: A network of educators and practicing journalists from different parts of the world will jointly design and implement courses on how to manage stress and trauma as a journalist. The course will be piloted in more than 30 universities in 9 countries.
4. Dig Better – Investigative Reporting for Women Journalism Students: A capacity building programme on investigative journalism for female students to inspire more women to work with investigative journalism. The participants are coached in investigative journalism by practicing journalists in the pilot programme ‘Dig Better’ which includes a mentoring and grants scheme.