U.S. Embassy San Jose Public Diplomacy Section Journalist Training on Understanding Malign Foreign Influence | PD 002 FY2024

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is this grant opportunity?

This is a U.S. Embassy San Jose (Costa Rica) Public Diplomacy Section grant opportunity to run a journalist training program focused on understanding and reporting on malign foreign influence as it appears in business and economic activity. The program is designed to strengthen investigative reporting capacity and support the development and publication of related stories.

2) Who is offering and administering the grant?

The opportunity is offered through the U.S. Embassy in San Jose via its Public Diplomacy Section and is administered by the U.S. Mission to Costa Rica.

3) What is the Funding Opportunity Number and CFDA number?

The Funding Opportunity Number is PD 002 FY2024. The activity area is listed as information and statistics (CFDA 19.040).

4) What is the focus of the training program?

The training focuses on investigating and reporting on non-transparent and corrupt business practices and explaining the broader national impacts those practices can have. It is aimed specifically at how malign foreign influence can manifest through business and economic activity.

5) Who is the training intended for?

The program centers on Costa Rica-based business and economy reporters, with the intent to strengthen their investigative capacity and ability to produce credible explanatory reporting.

6) What are the required training hours and structure?

The core training is an investigative journalism workshop totaling 20 hours of instruction. It is expected to be delivered in iterative sessions across one to three months, in five to ten sessions, so working journalists can apply skills between sessions and return with questions, leads, and draft work.

7) Does the workshop have to be in person or virtual?

The format can blend virtual and in-person instruction, but the design must include at least 10 hours conducted in person. The in-person component is meant to support hands-on practice, peer collaboration, and direct mentorship.

8) What investigative topics and skills should the workshop cover?

Based on the description, the workshop is expected to include practical investigative tools such as research techniques and data analysis, along with reporting approaches for documenting and explaining issues like opaque ownership structures, hidden financing, procurement irregularities, conflicts of interest, and other indicators of corruption or non-transparent conduct in private-sector activity and public-private dealings.

9) What does the opportunity mean by “malign foreign influence” in the business/economic context?

The notice frames malign foreign influence in terms of how influence can show up in business and economic activity, particularly through non-transparent practices, corrupt arrangements, and predatory financing or infrastructure deals that carry downstream national risks.

10) What is meant by “predatory infrastructure projects and lending practices” in this program?

The opportunity calls for training that helps journalists recognize and report on common tactics used in predatory infrastructure and lending deals and connect those tactics to broader consequences for host countries.

11) What impacts should participants be trained to connect to these deals?

The opportunity specifically highlights potential downstream impacts such as debt traps, cybersecurity compromises, and environmental degradation. The program is expected to help journalists link financial arrangements and contractual terms to real-world consequences like fiscal vulnerability, weakened digital security, and long-term ecological costs.

12) Is the program only about skills training, or does it also emphasize publishing?

It includes both. In addition to skills development, the grant expects tangible publishing outcomes, including facilitation of pitching and publication of articles produced during the workshop.

13) What kind of publishing support is expected?

The opportunity calls for structured support to help participants turn ideas into publishable work. Examples mentioned include refining story angles, strengthening evidence, improving data presentation, tightening writing, and anticipating legal or editorial concerns.

14) Are participants expected to produce articles during the workshop?

The notice encourages participants to develop strong story ideas tied to non-transparent or corrupt business practices and related influence risks, and it asks applicants to facilitate the pitching and publication of articles produced during the workshop.

15) What is the online repository requirement?

The program should include an online repository where participants can store and share collaborative reporting materials. The description also notes that coordination and consent considerations should involve participants’ employers.

16) Does the program need to support freelancers?

Yes. The grant calls for practical help to participants who may pursue freelance publication, including guidance and assistance with pitching to relevant media outlets to expand reach, increase pickup, and amplify impact.

17) Is journalist safety and security required?

Yes. Safety is described as a required part of the project. The program must provide guidance on risk assessment and security protocols tailored to reporting on corruption and opaque business practices.

18) What types of risks should the security component address?

The notice indicates participants should be trained to evaluate threats and vulnerabilities that may come from government authorities, corporate actors, or criminal organizations and adopt appropriate measures to reduce risk.

19) Does the opportunity prescribe a specific safety curriculum?

No specific security curriculum is prescribed, but the expectation is that participants leave with a clearer framework for assessing personal, digital, and operational risk and for making safer choices during sourcing, field reporting, storage of sensitive materials, and publication.

20) What is the maximum award amount?

The award ceiling is USD 50,000.

21) How many awards are expected?

The Embassy anticipates making up to two awards.

22) What are the key dates listed in the opportunity?

The opportunity was created on April 4, 2024. The original closing date for applications is listed as April 26, 2024.

23) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants include U.S. and Costa Rica-based entities and individuals. The eligibility list includes registered not-for-profit organizations (including think tanks, civil society organizations, and NGOs with relevant programming experience), non-profit or educational institutions, private institutions of higher education, and individuals. It also notes nonprofits with and without U.S. 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories), alongside private higher education institutions and individuals.

24) Are individuals allowed to apply, or only organizations?

Individuals are listed as eligible applicants, indicating the Embassy is open to qualified independent practitioners as well as organizations, as long as they can credibly run the training and publishing support components described.

25) What outcomes is the Embassy trying to achieve with this grant?

The grant is designed to produce two linked outcomes: (1) stronger investigative journalism capacity in Costa Rica on complex business and economic influence stories, and (2) a pipeline of publishable reporting that increases transparency around opaque business practices and the risks tied to predatory financing and infrastructure arrangements.

26) What does a successful implementer need to be able to deliver?

Based on the notice, the implementer should be able to deliver practical skills training, guide participants from investigation to publication, set up a workable collaboration and storage system for reporting materials (the online repository), and treat journalist security as a central requirement rather than an optional add-on.