Dutch Stichting European Journalism Centre (EJC) is a non-profit based in the city of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Founded in 1992, the year in which the Treaty of Maastricht connected the city forever to Europe, it has been working independently and successfully to support, strengthen and develop journalism.
With a large network in journalism and media and being one of the leading organisations in Europe, the EJC foundation aspires to be an essential resource and provides future insights so it can help journalism and media to innovate and flourish.
EJC believes that resilient, inclusive and progressive journalism and media needs to be supported, strengthened and developed. Reimagining journalism is key. Resilient, inclusive and progressive media not only delivers better journalism but also produces many forms of public benefit that make governments and societies function better and strengthen democracy. We are held in high regard and we have a global reach but our main focus is European, our goal relates to Journalism and we are a Centre for communities, knowledge and collaboration with partners and funders. Our organisational values are: independent, collaborative, innovative and inclusive.
Our vision
Journalists improve people’s lives by providing access to information, telling stories with data and sharing new perspectives, covering society’s most pressing issues. By holding power to account and unearthing untold stories, the essence of journalism is to provide people with reliable, trustworthy and verified information so they can make the best possible decisions about their lives, communities, governments, and societies. The EJC exists to help them do that.
Independent Journalism plays a key role in defending freedom of expression. We need to stand for and defend press freedom and the free flow of information in a time when evidence-based reporting is under pressure. We are forward-looking and embrace innovation and positive changes within the industry and we are optimistic about the many exciting developments taking place across the media landscape in regards to new business models, new formats and technology.
Why, what and how
EJC believes that resilient, inclusive and progressive journalism and media needs to be supported, strengthened and developed. Reimagining journalism is key.
Our mission is that every journalist and news organisation shall benefit from an EJC programme or initiative.
Our purpose is to strengthen the resilience of European journalism by connecting journalists and media to new ideas, nurturing communities, making available a wide range of unique experiences, providing grants and skills development, and producing resources and training affordable or for free.
Four pillars
Every activity that we design and deliver builds on four pillars: Support, connect, inspire and engage. We financially support and fund storytelling and innovation through grants and fellowships and we improve skills through training & resources. We connect and inspire people and communities through experiences, events and channels. We actively engage and communicate about programmes, results (including successes and failures) and outputs and best practises in journalism and our work.
