The growing interest in the working grants illustrates the increasing need for support for in-depth journalism in Flanders. The Pascal Decroos Fund, a project of Journalismfund Europe vzw financed by the Flemish government, awarded a total of €339,281 to 90 journalists. This is also an increase compared to the €304,397 awarded in 2024.
Demand Far Exceeds Supply
The total demand for financial support amounted to no less than €1,186,148, more than three times the available budget. This means that, increasingly, many strong projects unfortunately cannot count on our support.
Not only the number of applications, but also the total amount requested has doubled in recent years. This trend reflects the growing need for support for investigative journalism in a media landscape where time and budget for in-depth work are under pressure.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| #Applied Budget | 652.358 | 578.696 | 587.107 | 1.105.536 | 1.256.871 | 1.186.149 |
| #Project Applications | 102 | 103 | 96 | 148 | 132 | 171 |
| #Applicants | 152 | 147 | 134 | 203 | 182 | 227 |
| #Granted Budget | 277.685 | 253.144 | 325.360 | 301.145 | 304.397 | 339.281 |
| #Granted Projects | 58 | 52 | 56 | 53 | 52 | 64 |
| #Supported Journalists | 85 | 75 | 87 | 80 | 76 | 90 |
More Attention for Collaboration
The FPD Low Countries grant programme, which encourages cross-border projects between Flemish and Dutch journalists, also had a good year. Fifteen applications were received, of which ten projects were approved. Twenty-six journalists worked on these projects as a team, receiving a total of €67,659 in funding.
These Flemish-Dutch collaborations have already led to remarkable results in the past, such as the European PFOS investigations, which originated from a Dutch-Flemish collaboration.
Last year, this grant programme also facilitated high-profile research that underlines the added value of international cooperation. One example is “Under the Influence: The Battle for Alcohol Labelling in Brussels”,
‘It was striking to see that similar problems with the alcohol lobby existed in different European countries (...) Working together made it possible to show the European scale of the problem, rather than just a national one,’ says investigative journalist Irene van den Berg, who led the project. ‘
This investigation, supported by the FPD Low Countries, FPD Science and the European Cross-Border Grants, in which Belgian, Dutch and Irish journalists exposed the European alcohol industry's lobbying against health warnings. They also showed that the alcohol lobby uses dubious scientific research, among other things, to sow doubt about the health effects of alcohol.
Belgian journalists from De Tijd used Freedom of Information requests to reveal lobbying activities in Brussels, while their Irish colleagues at The Journal provided crucial insight into how the industry successfully delayed health warnings in Ireland. The investigation showed how alcohol producers used the same tactics once employed by the tobacco industry.
‘It was striking to see that similar problems with the alcohol lobby existed in different European countries (...) Working together made it possible to show the European scale of the problem, rather than just a national one,’ says investigative journalist Irene van den Berg, who led the project. ‘Most notably, we were invited by the World Health Organization to speak in an online meeting for senior officials from ministries of health across Europe, where we discussed our findings as a way to help policymakers better understand industry lobbying.'
'We were invited by the World Health Organisation to speak at an online meeting for senior officials from health ministries across Europe.’
Impact and Recognition
The impact of the supported projects is also evident from the many publications and extensive press coverage (more than 600 publications in 2025) and the awards and nominations they have received over the past year.
Marjolijn Prins' documentary Fantastique won the Young Eyes Award at DOK Leipzig, and photographer Marijn Fidderreceived the Zilveren Camera Award in the International Documentary category for her project Left Behind. The podcast Stoffelijk (Corporality) won an Oorkonde in the Insight category – for which Roadtrip to Auschwitz was also nominated – and a second prize at the Belfius Press Awards, while Evelien Rutten received the title of Meesterverteller from the Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek for Roadtrip naar Auschwitz.
The Pascal Decroos Fund was established in 1998 by family, friends and colleagues of Belgian journalist Pascal Decroos. The organisation aims to keep his memory alive by promoting quality and investigative journalism in Flanders and giving young people the opportunity to develop their journalistic talents. We will continue to work towards this goal in 2026.
