Splice Lights On
2020
Emergency support for media organisations during Covid
Applications are now closed.
In our Splice Lights On survey of financial conditions at media orgs, we found that over 40% of media orgs expect to start cutting jobs in the next 12 months to reduce costs.
Many have already started cutting back on the number of freelancers they commission.
Splice worked with Facebook to distribute $5,000 micro-grants in support of small- to mid-sized news orgs and their freelancers in Asia financially affected by Covid-19.
Applications are now closed.
We provided these grants to the organisations directly, so that they were able to continue working with freelancers as part of their operations.
These funds were initially allocated to the Splice Beta Fund for prototyping projects; we’re re-assigning a portion of it to support business operations at this critical juncture.
We received more than 163 applications from over 25 countries. We’re thankful for the opportunity to support our grantees.
We distributed the funds through two application rounds. Here are our 56 grantees from 17 markets.
Saigoneer Vietnam
Eyepress News Agency Hong Kong
Probe Media Foundation Philippines
SultraKini.com Indonesia
Hong Kong Free Press Hong Kong
Echelon Media Sri Lanka
Tribal News Network Pakistan
Roar Media Sri Lanka
KabarMedan.com Indonesia
Lensa Indonesia Global Media Indonesia
Hipwee Indonesia
Eco-Business.com Singapore
Kabarbisnis.com Indonesia
Aksara Solopos Indonesia
Southeast Asia Globe Cambodia
ArtsEquator Singapore
Trident Media Malaysia
News Now Bangla Bangladesh
Wildtype Media Group Singapore
Mothership Singapore
New Naratif Malaysia
The News Lens Taiwan
Indus Broadcasting Pakistan
Amanz Media Malaysia
The Story Kitchen Nepal
Initium Media Hong Kong
Our Grandfather Story Singapore
Magdalene.co Indonesia
Tana Bana Nepal
Riau Online Indonesia
Roar Bangla Bangladesh
Ujyaalo Nepal
Nepal in Data Nepal
Matta News Indonesia
The Centrum Media Pakistan
Eguur Mongolia
GreenNews Thailand
UrduPoint.com Pakistan
Soch Videos Pakistan
NOWnews Taiwan
Khabarhub Nepal
Solopos FM Indonesia
Voicepk.net Pakistan
The Current Pakistan
Pelita Sumsel Indonesia
Sylhettoday24.com Bangladesh
Fajar Indonesia Network Indonesia
The Scoop Brunei
KabarJombang.com Indonesia
Himal Media Nepal
Kanal Bali Indonesia
What’s The Meta Today Malaysia
BusinessDesk New Zealand
How some of our grantees are using the funds
Creating stories on photo essays on Covid
Combatting misinformation about Covid
Profiling people who’ve recovered from the pandemic
Writing stories on how cities are lifting restrictions from the lockdown
Covering the economic struggles of small businesses
Starting a daily Covid newsletter
Reporting on the stigmatisation of corona patients
Covering domestic violence against women