<p><span style="font-size: small;">Center for Civil Communications, together with BIRN Macedonia and the Centre for Investigative journalism, SCOOP Macedonia launched a <a href="http://birn.eu.com/en/page/macedonia-call-for-investigations">call for investigative stories</a> on May 17.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The call is part of the ‘Project for Investigative Journalism and Cooperation Between Media and Civil Society’, part of a USAID programme for strengthening independent media in Macedonia.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In the first call that closes on June 7, at least five journalists will be awarded a grant to cover their expenses while doing the investigation and writing the story. More calls for investigative grants will follow, for a total of 40 stories until June 2015.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Journalists will have about three months to dig deeper and research their ideas, but also will have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as their mentors to guide them through the process of writing to BIRN standards.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Topics for investigations include: health; cultural policy; education and youth; human rights; EU integration; good governance; inter-ethnic relations; environment issues; marginalised groups; quality of life. The call only applies to journalists from Macedonia. <a href="http://birn.eu.com/en/page/macedonia-call-for-investigations">Click here for more detailed information.</a></span></p>