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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Apologies for cross-posting</FONT>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">*** Collaborative Grants in Media and Communications: Call for Proposals ***</FONT></B>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Social Science Research Council</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere Program </FONT>
<BR><A HREF="http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media</FONT></U></A>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">WHAT</FONT></B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">: </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The SSRC is pleased to launch the first round of its small grants project for academic-advocacy collaboration in the media and communications field. The first round will provide grants of up to $7,500 for research that supports advocacy, organizing, policy and/or campaign uses in the media and communications field in the US. The grants are intended for short-term work, completable and usable by advocacy partners within the next 4-12 months. Up to 5 grants will be awarded in this first round. In future rounds, the submission process will be conducted online, with awards made on a rolling basis. </FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">DEADLINE</FONT></B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">: </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Proposals for this first round of grants must be received by email by 5 pm, Aug.9 Selections will be announced by Aug.28. Proposals submitted after Aug.9 will be considered in a subsequent round.</FONT></P>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">WHO</FONT></B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">: </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">In this first round, proposals must be:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Submitted by a US-based nonprofit advocacy, organizing or community group working on media and/or telecommunications issues. (Groups with nonprofit fiscal sponsorship are also eligible.) </FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Structured as a partnership with an academic researcher based at a university, college or other research institution. This can include advanced graduate students. </FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">There are no citizenship requirements for participants in these projects. </FONT>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">CRITERIA</FONT></B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">: </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Please review the attached list of criteria carefully BEFORE preparing your proposal. </FONT>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">All projects must:</FONT></B>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Be strategically useful in their proposed advocacy and/or organizing context.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Produce scholarship that meets academic standards.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Have a realistic workflow and timeframe.</FONT></LI>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The selection committee will also favor proposals that: </FONT></B>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Address issues of disparate impact on communities on the basis of race, class, gender, ethnicity, age or other identity/status category. </FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Build capacity—skills, tools, experience, access to data sets—within the "user" organization and/or community.<I> </I></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Have a clear plan for the dissemination of the research to target audiences.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Have uses outside the immediate intended context.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Use methods or models of research that have proved effective in similar contexts.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Reflect diversity in the staff or group involved with the project.</FONT></LI>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Bonus points for proposals that:</FONT></B>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Involve collaboration between two or more advocacy/community groups in the project design and the plan of use for the research.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Use participatory methods to engage community and/or advocacy group members in framing the questions, data collection, and/or analysis.</FONT><I></I></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">See also sample topics below.</FONT><I></I>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">PROPOSAL STRUCTURE:</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Please submit proposals to </FONT><A HREF="mailto:mediahub@ssrc.org"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">mediahub@ssrc.org</FONT></U></A><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> . Please send a project outline of no more than 5 pages including:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">A short description (max. 100 words) of how the research will be used to advance public-interest change in the media/communications arena.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">A description of the research project (max. 1000 words), covering both process and outcomes, and addressing the criteria above. </FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">A description of the proposing organization (max. 200 words), including mission, constituency, geographical scope of work, and annual budget. </FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The name, institutional affiliation(s) and research experience of the academic partner.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">A project timeline.</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Plus:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The researcher’s CV.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">A budget of up to $7500, with itemized major expenditures. If the project draws on other resources or financing, please indicate them.</FONT></LI>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">REVIEW COMMITTEE:</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Applications will be reviewed and selected for funding by our Panel:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Saskia Fischer, Media Empowerment Project</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Hernan Galperin, Annenberg School of Communications, University of Southern California</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Dorothy Kidd, Media Studies, University of San Francisco</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Mark Lloyd, Center for American Progress</FONT></LI>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">BACKGROUND:</FONT></B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The Collaborative Grants project is part of the Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere (NKDPS) Program of the Social Science Research Council, working in partnership with CIMA: Center for International Media Action and the McGannon Center for Communications Research at Fordham University. The program is funded by the Media, Arts and Culture program of the Ford Foundation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The NKDPS program is launching a series of funding opportunities to help increase the production, use and capacity for research to serve public-interest advocacy and organizing around media and communications. These mini-grants for collaborative advocacy- academic partnerships have been initiated to meet the short-term research needs of advocacy and policy actors. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Several other funding projects will be launched in the next months, including a "Research Bounties" project that place prizes on advocacy-defined research and a larger program to support longer-term advocacy-academic research partnerships and training.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">For more information on the program, see </FONT><A HREF="http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://www.ssrc.org/programs/media</FONT></U></A><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">. </FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">For all program-related inquiries, please write to </FONT><A HREF="mailto:mediahub@ssrc.org"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">mediahub@ssrc.org</FONT></U></A><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> </FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Subscribe to MediaResearchHub-News for program updates, research funding opportunities, and conference information: </FONT><A HREF="http://listserve.ssrc.org/mailman/listinfo/mediaresearchhub-news"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://listserve.ssrc.org/mailman/listinfo/mediaresearchhub-news</FONT></U></A></P>
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<P><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">SAMPLE PROJECT TOPICS:</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Proposals might seek to:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Measure the success or failure of mainstream media in advancing different public interest goals or values. </FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">2. Measure the impact of existing “alternative”/ community media systems on communities, public discourse, or democratic processes.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">3. Develop better, actionable accounts of the role of ‘new media’ in people’s lives. </FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">4. Analyze policymaking and/or regulatory systems.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">5. Analyze emerging systems, frameworks, or models of media and communications that transcend the current regulatory framework.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">6. Analyze economic models, industry structure, markets, or audiences for different kinds of media.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">7. Create analytical tools or research resources for use by advocates, communities, or the public.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">8. Document or evaluate advocacy or organizing strategies around communications and media issues.</FONT>
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