The Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (BCME) - in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers in Latvia - will support 11 media projects within the programme “Diversification of multimedia content for minority audiences in the Baltics”. The NCM project funding amounts to a total of 130 000 EUR. The project proposals come from printed media, TV, radio, online portals, and social networking platforms, as well as combinations of the above types. The call for proposals ended on December 14, 2022, after which a selection committee approved 11 of 21 applications.
The programme “Diversification of multimedia content for minority audiences in the Baltics” seeks to support media outlets in the Baltics that work in minority languages, to strengthen media outlets’ content production and help them to expand into new areas of activity. From Latvia the grantees are Rus.LSM.lv, RUS.TVNET.LV, Rus.Delfi.lv, I Gryanul Grem, Chayka.lv and R Media, from Lithuania Radio Raduga and Rus.Delfi.lt and from Estonia Delovie Vedomosti, Vestnik Tartu and Novaja Gazeta Baltija.
The aim of the project is to enhance the creation of high-quality content for minorities living in the Baltics and the provision of diverse sources of information, thus making audiences more resilient towards disinformation and propaganda used by Russia to influence information space in neighbouring countries. It is important to strengthen the capabilities of local minority media to produce high-quality audio/video content and increase audience reach by developing specific marketing and audience engagement tools. Audiences will have access to high-quality content in the Russian language and thus be more resilient towards disinformation spread by third countries and other maligned actors.
During the course of the project, Baltic region media professionals will acquire practical skills to create innovative content and access wider audiences who are actively using new media products. The media outlets will receive special podcast training developed and delivered by Lyka Kremer, founder and CEO of Libo/Libo, a Russian podcasting company. During the project, Baltic journalists will have the opportunity to receive on-demand consultations and mentoring on podcast production and marketing.
